History of the Mongols, from the 9th to the 19th century

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ISTORYo/ /A. MONGOLS

FJiOM 2W£ gtk TO THE igth CENTfTRY,

Part I.

THE MONGOLS PROPER AND THE KALMUKS.

^li

'Henry H. Howorth, f.s.a.

i TWO MAPS BY E. G. RAVENSTEIN, F.R.G.S.

• LONDON
Longmans, Green, and Co.

• 1876.

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55"^

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TO

SIR HENRY C. RAWLINSpN, K.C.B., F.R.S.

It was once the fashion for authors to dedicate their works to patrons
from whose bounty some advantage was expected, and few things are
more humbling in literary history than the servile addresses which
sycophancy under these circumstances has produced. We now live in
more dignified times; and may place on the threshold of our work
the name of some friend whom we reverence and respect without
degrading our pens to such mercenary uses.

I feel it a privilege to be permitted to dedicate this the first-fruits
of not inconsiderable toil and exertion, to one who has raised very high
the reputation of England for wide and cultured scholarship, and for
brilliant fertility in discovery. Your kind and considerate notice of my
efforts when a boy encouraged me to persevere in an arduous task, of
which this is the outcome. It is probable that you will find some-
thing to object to and much to correct, besides the errors inevitable
in such a work; but I shall feel gratified if you conclude that I have
in some measure thrown light on a difficult and perplexing subject.

PREFACE.

?•

O'

^NE can. conceive few things more melancholy than an author
reading his own work. A man may easily overrate the virtues
and be blind to the vices of his children, but unless he be
singularly isolated and unaccustomed to the searching breezes of
criticism, he cannot avoid feeling sober and sad as he turns over the
pages of his own book. One can school oneself into treating mankind,
the Vorld, the^critics, contemporary opinion, or even posterity with
cynical disregard, but it is hardly possible to be cynical with one's own
product ; and yet, unless steeped to the finger-ends in vanity, even *
the most accurate and careful author must feel that many sentences
might have been better written, that mistakes, the results of careless
writing and careless correcting — some due to the author, some to his
unsuspecting friend the printer — feeble logic, slovenly English, and
other faults mar the product at every turn ; and although the
book itself; has worried him and caused him' endless anxiety and
trouble, he will see the blemishes more distinctly than all the rest.
If this be true of most authors, it is assuredly true of those who have to
deal with a vast mass of facts and inferences, to thread their way through
tortuous quagmires in which authorities are at variance, and to march
over some of those arid tracts of human literature in which the heaps of
shingle have fe^ rhetorical flowers to grace them, and yet every pebble
of which has a separate and individual existence, and marks a truth or an
error, fi is in such a wilderness that we have been wandering, and we know
that what we have done is very imperfect, and is as remote from our
ideal as the rude efforts of Theodores from the marbled flesh of Phidias.

We know too well that those who wish to use a critical lash upon us
may find a knot of scorpions in every page. We are not afraid of those,
however, who have traversed the same path. They will know how the
thorns prick and how hard it is to come out with a whole skin ; and if
they are as candid to us as they would be to their own work, they will at
least do justice to the difficulty of the way. But let that pass. The
book is Writ, and who will care to read it ? It is hard to say. What
excuse then for writing it ? Are there not books enough and to spare in
the huge lumber-room of the world ? Docs not the future groan by
anticipation at the burden we are piling upon it ? Most true ; and yet it is
not merely the cacoethes scribendi, the mania for writing that has stirred
us. Like others, many others whom we know, we have looked along

VI PREFACE.

that fascinating road which leads back towards the cradle of human
progress. Looked with longing eyes at those great banks of cloud and
mist and darkness behind which the sun of human history first fose, to
try and dispel some of them, and help to solve the riddle of whence it
came, why it came, and whither it hastens. It is a romantic an4 a
stirring problem, only to be solved, if it ever can be solved, by a dreary
process, namely, that of mapping out accurately the nearer vistas of the
landscape, and from that vantage making a fiirther conquest of the land
beyond. Taking up the intertangled and crooked skein, the thousand
twisted threads into which the story has been ravelled, and following
each one up to the beginning to reach at last, may be, the fountain source*
whence Bushman and Englishman, Fetishman and Pope, black and red
and white all came. Like others who have gone before, we too started
ambitiously, our object having been to give a conspectdft-of ethnol^icai
facts, to write a treatise in which the human race and its various varieties
should figure as it does in Pritchard's great work, with such additions as
fresh discoveries have necessitated. But our purpose fell through ; the
work was too great We next essayed a narrower field, in which our early
reading had delighted, namely, to treat of the nomade races of Asia, a
field very much unexplored and very confused, upon which we have
written and printed sundry papers, some worthless and some otherwise
may be. But our hobby grew bigger as we tended it, it outgrew our
resources, and we had once more to restrain our coat within the limits of
our cloth ; our last resolve has resulted in these 800 pages, and more
which may follow. And now as to our fitness for the work, a question
often a stumblingblock to a vain man, who dreams he is exceptionally
qualified to do what he has done, and that none could have done it
better, but no stumblingblock to us, who know ho# much better it
might have been done by friends whom we could name. The field was
singularly unoccupied. Amidst the myriad volumes which the press
turns out, few indeed touched even the skirts of our question. Like the
Sahara in Africa, or like the Saharas which occur in large libraries where
ancient folios lie asleep amidst dust and cobweb, our subject has a
forbidding aspect, a dry and arid look which might well frighten any
traveller who looked across it, and* will doubtless scare many readers who
are not aware that even the Sahara has some oases, and almost every
elephant folio some few paragraphs to lighten up the rest. Dry and
repulsive a good deal of Mongolian history undoubtedly is, but it forms a
vast chapter in human annals, which we may not evade without seriously
marring our historic knowledge. In the absence of better guides, an
inferior traveller may find a great work to his hand, which he may do in
the hope that when he has reduced it somewhat to order, and traced out
its topography rudely, others may follow who shall have the lighter task
of correcting his mistakes, of fiUing in the canvas with more attractive

PREFACE. VU

detail, and of completing the worjc which the pioneer can only begin. It
is because the field was vacant that we took up the mattock, and if it be
beyond. our power frequently, to do well, we may justify our conscience by
doing our best.

I approach the problem as an ethnologist and historian, and
not as a linguist, and I have to state at once that I have had no
access to the authorities in their original language, and only to trans-
lations and commentaries. Here, therefore, at the very threshold, I have
to break not a lance but only a bodkin with my friend Sir Henry
Rawlinson. At the meeting of the Oriental Congress in London he laid
it down that a man ought not to write history who cannot read the
original script in which the narrative was put down, in other words, that
those only who can reach the flowers have a right to use the honey.
This view, I hurilbly submit, is not a reasonable one. His own brother,
my old friend the Canon of Canterbury, who has done so much for
Eastern history, is an instance to the contrary', and so are many others ;
but I go deeper than this. Take the history of the Mongols as a
crucial example, and consider the various languages in which the
original story is enshrined. To be a profound Chinese, Persian,
Armenian, Russian, German, French, and Latin scholar is in itself
an impossibility ; several of these languages are so difficult and com-
pHcated that a lifetime is required for their mastery, and no time is left
for the other portion of the work, the comparing and sifting of the
evidence j and of course the argument requires that a man shall have a
profound and not a superficial knowledge, or else his reading of the
original is very inferior in value to a reading taken second-hand from a
profound master of the language. I hold the two works to be entirely
apart. One matt carves the stone from the quarry, and another shapes
it into a figure ; one man digs out the gold, and another makes the
embossed bowl out of it. It would be as unfair and unreasonable to
forbid the painter to paint his picture unless he knew how to make his
colours, or the architect to design his palace unless he were the master of
every handicraft necessary to supply the building with materials, as to
deny the historian the right to, build up his story, to fill in his canvas,
unless he can quarry his own materials out of the rock for himself. It is
not only unreasonable, but it is in fact securing very inferior work ; it is
the case of the western farmer whittling his own chairs and tables
with his pocket knife, instead of furnishing his house with objects made
by men specially skilled in their various crafts. How vcry«engrossing
even one language may be, may best be illustrated by a story.
When making inquiries once about some of the tribes of Cashmere, I
was introduced by a friend of mine, a very distinguished Eastern scholar,
to a German gentleman who had long lived on the borders of Cashmere.
I put my question to him, and he answered that he knew nothing about

viii PREFACE.

these tribes, for he was a pure Sanskritist. I was almost appalled by
the reply. The difficulty of Sanscrit was a matter with which I was
more or less familiar, but that it should so engross a mao*s whole life as
to leave him no time or inclination for an inquiry into a not remotely
connected subject, which was at his very elbow, was startling. If
this be true of Sanscrit, it is surely doubly true of Chinese, a language so
difficult that the quarrels of Chinese linguists as to the meaning of
Chinese words and phrases form a not inconsiderable literature. It
is only once in a thousand years that men of the gigantic powers of
Klaproth, at once a profound linguist and a most acute ethnologist, come
to the surface. For these reasons, therefore, I do not deem it an
objection that one who is writing an Eastern history should collect his
materials from secondary sources, but rather an advantage. The only
thing in which he should be careful is to consult the translations of
scholars and of men of repute, and I trust that in the following pages 1
have done so, and to the best of my ability have ransacked the literature
of Germany, France, and England to bring together my materials. A
more detailed criticism of them will appear in the introduction.

There is one pitfall into which I am aware that I have frequently fallen,
and for which my distinguished correspondent Major Raverty will
lake me to task, and that is in the orthography of the proper names.
Here 1 confess to have been met by a difficulty of singular moment,
and one which appears to be almost insuperable until some uniform
scheme of spelling shall have been devised.

There are hardly two authors whom I have consulted who spell
the names in the same way, and ver>' often their spelling is so
different that it is nearly impossible to recognise the name under its
various aspects ; I am aware that 1 have in consequence in several
cases failed to spell the same name consistently. The difficulty is a
profound one^ Thus in Erdmann's history of Jingis Khan, an admirable
work, the letter g is used constantly where other writers put k, and a
friend of mine, a distinguished linguist, assures me that with many
Germans known to him the difference between the pronunciation of the
two letters is not an appreciable one. Again, the Chinese orthography
of names so disguises them that it is not always possible to recognise
them. Major Raverty, in his capital edition of the Tabakat i Nasiri,
lays down certain methods of speUing, and is very severe on those who
differ from him ; but we must remember that in adopting the Persian
orthography for Turkish and Mongolian names, we are applying an
Arian orthography to Turanian names, and that such a solution is really
an arbitrary one. The way in which Mongol names are pronounced at
Shiraz or Teheran is no doubt to be gathered from Persian authors, but
hardly the way in which Mongol names are pronounced in Mongolia. As
a rule, I have followed the speUing of Schmidt in his edition of Ssanang

PREFACE. IX

Setzen, the native chronicler. In other cases I have followed Erdmann,
who was a professor at Kazan and a good scholar ; in the absence of these
authorities I have been guided by what seemed to me the best authority,
but in doing so*I have, I am aware, made some mistakes, and can only
do the kow-tow humbly to my readers for them. After all, the spelling
of the names, so long as we arc not misled by it, is not a very grave
error, and we can only hope that in due time some settled system may
make the path of my successors a more easy one.

Having said so much about the difficulties of the author, I must now
turn to the work. If we wish to enter upon a branch of inquiry which
seems utterly wanting in unity, to be as disintegrated as sand, and
defying any orderly or rational treatment, we can hardly choose a better
one than the history of the Asiatic nomades. These tribes which, under
a variety of names, occupy the vast steppe lands, the deserts, moun-
tains, and river valleys which stretch from the frontiers of Hungary
to the Yellow Sea, seem at first sight to be quite unconnected with
one another in history and traditions, and unless we can find some
common element around which to group the story, we cannot hope
to make much headway. In looking round to find a girdle with which
to bind these disconnected threads, I have chosen what seems to be the
most convenient one. In the early part of the thirteenth century the
Mongols, an obscure tribe of Eastern Asia, headed by their chief Jingis
Khan, succeeded in conquering t*he greater portion of the nomades of
Asia. Not all of them, but the greater portion ; destroyed or displaced
the many ruling families which controlled them, and integrated under
one government and one law a multitude of independent tribes. Jingis
Khan left the empire which he had conquered to his son Ogotai, while
he left to his other sons dependent appanages. They were subject in a
kind of feudal fashion to their more fortunate brother. And thus matters
continued for generations, until, as is almost inevitable in vast unwieldy
empires, where intercommunication is difficult and interests are different,
the various appanages broke away and became independent, each one,
however, ruled over by descendants of Jingis Khan. These appanages
in turn were broken into lesser fragments, still, however, ruled by princes
of the same royal stock, until the vast empire was shattered into the many
fragments which make the political geography of Asia so confusing.

The empire of Jingis was anything but homogeneous in its elements.
It consisted of tribes of various languages and origins, the Turks pre-
dominating largely in numbers, while the Mongols, who lived mainly in
their old homes in Eastern Asia, formed but a ruling caste elsewhere.
What the empire was, its fragments became, very heterogeneous,— some
Turkish, some Mongol, &c., but all having one common bond in that
they were ruled by princes of the same stock, the descendants of the
Mongol Jingis Khan. It is this common bond which I have chosen as

% PREFACE

my sheet-anchor, on which to hook on the histories of the various
tril:«Si and thus give unity and coherence to the story. The history of
the Mongols in this sense, ilicrefore, includes not only t^kc history of the
Mongols proper of Mongoha, but of all the trilx.'s whose ruling house was
Mongol, and who could trace descent from the royal stock of Jingis
Khan. In the present volume I shall contine myself to the history of the
Mongols proper, and leave the various Turkish tribes which obey princes
of the Mongol royal stock for another volume. The Mongols may be
divided into two sections ; the Kastcrn Mongols, to whom the name more
properly belongs, and the Western Mongols or Kalmuks. The former
occupy the first eight chapters of the volume, and the latter the last four.
The history of the Mongols is necessarily a ** drum and trumpet
history." It deals chiefly with the con(|uests of great kings and
the struggles of rival tribes, and many of its pages are crowded with
incidents of butcher>', and a terrible story of ravage and destruction.
It is in the main the story of one of those hardy, brawny races cradled
amidst want and hard circumstances, in whose blood there is a good
mixture of iron, which are sent periodically to destroy the luxurious and
the wealthy, to lay in ashes the arts and culture which only grow under
the shelter of wealth and easy circumstances, and to convert into a desert
the paradise which man has painfully cultivated. Like the pestilence
and the famine, the Mongols were essentially an engine of destruction ;
and if it be a painful, harassing story to read, it is nevertheless a
necessary one if wc are to understand the great course of human
progress. Nor is the story wholly one of bloodshed and destruction ; far
from it. I would commend those who wish to see the other side of the
shield to the concluding pages of the lives of Jingis Khan, and Ogotai,
his son, and to the lives of Khubilai and his successors. Political
philosophy has much to learn from institutions which were founded by a
race of nomades, and were found capable of reducing to order and to
good government the disintegrated robbers of Asia, and for a while to
make the desert as safe as the Queens highway. It is assuredly a
valuable lesson to learn what wise and beneficent laws and institutions
could be devised by the ingenuous shepherds of the Mongolian desert,
and what worldly wisdom and shrewd insight into human character they
were masters of. And it may be that while we deplore the terrible
destruction that wc shall conclude that what was swept away had
seen its heyday that like the apple which ripens and then becomes
overripe till it rots, human society reaches a term at last, when there is
no longer progress, when there is nothing but stagnation, and with it
the products of stagnation, vice, and mental disease. If we cannot
forget that Byzantium was the daughter of Rome, and the rival factions
of the Circus, in some measure, the heirs of the old parties in the
Forum, wc shall not be cynical enough to affirm that the child was as

a PREFACE. id

good as the parent, that the scrofulous and utterly base and degraded
moral atmosphere of the mistress of the Bosphorus, with its decrepitude
in the arts, in literature, in everything save vice, was not ready for the
destroyer, nor ^affect to deplore the revolution which swept it away.
Greece liad been dwarfed in every sense, and become a poor shadow of
its former self when the Romans trampled it under. The Saxons had,
for nearly two centuries, been almost stagnant in literature and the arts
when the Norman heel crushed them and restored new life to the
decaying carcase ; and it was so, to a large extent with the victims of the
Mongol arms ; their prosperity was hollow and pretentious, their
grandeur very largely but outward glitter, and the diseased body needed
a sharp remedy ; the apoplexy that was impending could probably only
be staved off by much blood letting, the demoralised cities must be sown
with salt, and their inhabitants inoculated with fresh streams of vigorous
blood from the uncontaminated desert. And then there came, as
there always comes, a Renaissance — a new life. When the wave of
destruction was spent, the relics and fragments of the old arts and
auture became the seeds of a more vigorous growth. The virgin soil
was speedily covered with fresh green. From China, Persia, Europe,
from all sides, where tlie hoofs of Mongol horses had tramped, there was
furnished a quota of ideas to the conmion hive, whence it was distributed.
Europe, which had sunk into lethargy under the influence of feudal
institutions and of intestine wars, gradually awoke. An afflatus of
architectural energy, as Colonel Yule has remarked, spread over the
world almost directly after the Mongol conquests. Poetry and the arts
began rapidly to revive. The same thing occurred in Persia under the
Ilkhans, the heirs and successors of Khulagu, and in Southern Russia at
Serai, under the successors of Batu Khan. While in China it would be
difficult to point to any epoch of Asiatic history which could rival the
vigorous life and rejuvenescence which marks the reign of the great
Khubilai Khan, whose history I have described in the fifth chapter.
As the Mongols controlled the communications between these various
centres, and protected them effectually so long as they remained powerful.
Eastern and Western nations were brought together, and reacted
on one another. I have no doubt myself, as 1 have pointed out in the
following pages that the art of printing, the mariner's compass, firearms,
and a great many details of social life, were not discovered in Europe,
but imported by means of Mongol influence from the furthest East.

I must now give a short abstract of the contents of this volume. The
first chapter contains a description of the most important tribes and
nations which the Mongols came in contact with in their early days. I have
remitted the controversial questions to the notes at the end of the volume,
to which I would commend my ethnological friends for a good deal of
new matter upon the ethnography of many of the nomadcs. Let me
h

xii PREFACE. ,

call attention especially to the note on the Keraits. The second chapter
is devoted to an examination of the Origines of the Mongols and a
ciiticism of their traditions, and the accounts we have of them in the
Persian and Chinese authors down to ilk time of Jingis Khan. This is
dry enough, but will, I hope, be found to be a considerable advance on
any previous venture in the same field. The third chapter deals with
Jingis Khan, and traces his history from his early days to his death, with
an account, as far as I have met with it, of his various laws and
institutions. This is more or less well trodden ground. Erdraann,
D'Ohsson, and De la Croix have written largely upon it. I have added
several Sagas from Ssanang Setzen, the native chronicler, and have
tried to make the narrative more correct. I must beg my readers,
however, to consult the notes in reading it, for it is a difficult part
of the subject, and I* have modified my views about certain portions
of it. The fourth chapter is devoted to Ogotai, the son and successor
of Jingis Khan, and his descendants. Ogotai consolidated the empire
his father had won, and largely widened its borders. The account of
the campaign undertaken during his reign into Central Europe has beA
carefully elucidated by Wolff, and his results will be found condensed in
this chapter. Ogotai was succeeded by his son Kuyuk Khan, to whom
the Franciscan missionary Carpini went. On the death of Kuyuk there
was a revolution in Mongolia. The family of Ogotai was displaced by
that of Tului, but Ogotai's descendants kept up a struggle for the throne
for a long time, and were de facto sovereigns of a large territory in
Central Asia. I have given their history until they finally submitted to
the rival house. In the fifth chapter I have given the history of the
two brothers Mangu Khan and Khubilai Khan, whose reigns coincide
with the apogee of Mongol power and greatness. During the reign of
the former, the Khaliphate and the Assassins were conquered by his
brother Khulagu, who founded a line of Mongol sovereigns in Persia
known as the Ilkhans. The court of Mangu was visited by the
Franciscan Rubruquis, who has left a graphic picture of it. Khubilai
was the patron of Marco Polo. He moved the seat of government from
Mongolia to China, subjected the southern half of that empire, and
became the virtual founder of the Mongol dynasty of Chinese Wang tis
or emperors known as the Yuen dynasty. His reign is a brilliant one,
not merely in Mongol history, but in the annals of Asia. The sixth
chapter is devoted to the history of the Yuen dynasty, the successors
of Khubilai down to their expulsion from China, and continues
their history through the period of depression, when the Kalmuks and
Mongols separated and formed two distinct nations, and down to the
final conquest of the Chakhars, the tribe ruled over by the senior line of
Mongol chiefs representing the old supreme Khans of the Mongols.
The seventh chapter contains an account of the topography and history

PREFACE. xiii

of the Chakhars and of the various tribes constituting the so-called
Forty-nine Banners, that is, of the various Mongol tribes who migrated
to the south of the desert of Gobi and became subjects of the Manchus
in the early days of the latter's prosperity. In this chapter will be found
considerable details about the conversion of the Mongols to Lamaism.
The eighth chapter contains the history of the Khalkhas, whose several
divisions constitute the Mongols who live north of the desert of Gobi,
and who did not become subject to China until much later. As in the
case of the former tribe, my account of them closes with their conquest
by China. In this chapter will be found many details about the early
intercourse of the Russians with the Mongols. In the ninth chapter I
commence the history of the Kalmuks, and begin with the Khoshotes or
Kalmuks of Thibet. There will be found, collected from various
sources, an account of the influence of the Lamas upon the Mongols,
and of the rise and growth of the now dominant sect of the Yellow
Lamas, who are presided over by the well-known Dalai Lama. I believe
this is the first account of this interesting story which has appeared in
Enghsh. The tenth chapter contains the history of the Keraits. When
I wrote it I believed the Keraits to have been the ancestors of the
Torguts, following in this respect the very able lead of Abel Remusat.
As I have said in the note on the Keraits at the end of the
volume, I no longer think so, and I have given my reasons there
for my change of opinion. In this chapter will be found a detailed
account of that hero of so much romance and fable, Prester
John, with a criticism of the latest views in regard to him, as well
as an account of the most important tribe among the European
Kalmuks, namely, the Torguts. The tenth chapter is devoted to the
Sungars, Derbets, &c., whom I class under the generic name Choros.
In this will be found the history of the rise of the Sungar
royal family, which for a while built up a power in Central Asia that
promised to rival that of the older Mongols, and to fight upon equal
terms with the Manchu conquerors of China. The twelfth and last
chapter deals with the Buriats, the least sophisticated of the Mongol
tribes, and the one about whose history we have the least information.
While nearly all the other Mongols are subject to China, the Buriats live
under the authority of Russia. In the notes and corrections, &c., I have
added such new information as has become accessible to me since the
book was written, and corrected the errors which I have found, and
others which have been pointed out to me by my very kind friend
Colonel Yule. Many still remain, and I shall be exceedingly grateful to
any critics who may notice my work, for pointing out to me where I have
gone astray, that I may add their hints to an appendix, for I hardly
expect that in this generation there will be found another English student
who will venture over the same ground.

xiv PREFACE.

It now remains to thank those who have assisted me. In the intro-
duction I have given a list of the authorities upon which the work is
founded~I hope a fair and tolerably complete one. To that list I
must commend my readers for the sources of my matter. These
I have had very largely to consult in my own library, away in the
Boeotian fields of Lancashire, far from the pleasant book shelves of the
Great National Library ; far, too, from the companionship of those who
could have helped me in many a crooked comer. I may say, without
exaggeration, that it has been written alone. After it was written and
printed off, the sheets were posted to Palermo to Colonel \\x\c,/acile
princeps in questions relating to Central Asia, and not more widely-
known for his great stores of learning and his accuracy than for his
urbanity and kindness. Most of the suggestions he has made I have
incorporated in the notes, and I only repeat myself when I return him
grateful thanks for them. To Dr. Rost, of the India Library, I am
specially indebted for loans of books in any number, and still more for
the confidence with which I have been allowed to retain them as long as I
pleased. He also is widely known for his profound scholarship, and his
willingness to assist the humblest student ; and I am very proud to be
allowed to call him my friend. The Librarians of the Asiatic Society of
the Anthropological Institute and of the Geographical Society have also
earned my thanks for their ready loan of books. Lastly there are three
names which I cannot leave out without grave injustice. First, my dear
old mother, who was the first to teach, and who has never ceased to
encourage me, who was always prodigal in every favour, and who will,
of all my critics, I know, be the most tender to my failings. Secondly,
my friend George Hector Croad, now the honoured Secretary of the
London School Board, my old master, whose enthusiasm, whose
thoroughness, and whose integrity I feel it a privilege to have tested
in a hundred ways, and who first gave me a taste for historical inquiries.
I hope he will not deem I have disgraced him. Lastly, my wife, my
ever patient wife, who has sat out many hundred lonely hours while I
have turned over the dusty pages, who has resisted the importunities
of many kind friends to burn the heaps of dry-as-dust — which I call
my library. She has done what no amount of gratitude can repay ; but
there is one thing she will not dare to do, and that is to read my book. I
have now finished. It is a cold shivering world that such a work as this
goes into ; the hard names and the dry sentences are not tempting to the
casual reader. Some few, may be, will read it ; others turn to it to verify
a fact, or to find materials for a pedantic sentence ; others may busy
themselves with tearing it to pieces. All are welcome ; and to all I say —

" Vive, vale 1 si quid novisti recttus istis,
Candidus imperii, si non, his ntere mecum.*'

INTRODUCTION.

THERE can be no greater mistake than to write history as if our
views were immaculate and not subject to revision. The fact is,
that nearly all history is tentative, and subject to be modified
by fresh discoveries. We can only raise our ladder to a certain height,
and then look round and describe the narrow horizon which we see
from its summit Those who come after us will profit by our work, will
start where we ended, will raise the vantage higher, and will without
doubt secure a wider view, and be able to improve upon our position,
and so on till the whole story is secured. This is not a very encouraging
conclusion. It has one moral, however, which is too frequently forgotten.
If we see further than those who went before, it is because we are
raised higher from the ground by their efforts, we in fact stand on their
shoulders. Where we should have been had they not preceded us is not
easy to say. To throw stones, to cast jibes at them for their mistakes,
is surely very like parricide. We who move the coach an ell, where
they perhaps moved it a mile, are but poor creatures if we cannot gauge
their work, the vast mass of new matter they brought together, without
a perpetual snarl at their small mistakes, or a perpetual cackle over our
own superior wisdom. I hold that the value of a man's work is to be
measured, not by the fewness of his mistakes, but by the number of new
facts and ideas he has brought together. He who never opens his
mouth will not speak much folly, nor will he add much to the world's
resources. Orientalists are proverbial for being testy, and for having
many quarrels. They too often crucify a victim who has dug knee-deep
in new matter but who has failed to accept some shibboleth which has
been ear-marked as essential ; nor do they easily pardon a writer who
has not quite reached their stand-point, and a large portion of
writing on Oriental matters is not only polemical but bitterly so. I
feel too much gratitude for the great dead who have cleared my
path to imitate this example. I am not going to throw any stones
at my father Parmenides, or at the many old giants whose work has
made mine possible. I would rather greet them cap in hand on my
knees, as I would my ancestors, if they could be summoned and made

xvi INTRODUCTION.

to go trooping by. If I have corrected some of their mistakes, it is
because I have had advantages which they had not ; and I am well
aware that the digging into historic quagmires is a mere lottery, in
which by some good chance a student may discover a nugget, while his
far superior master close by will find only barren earth.

I now propose to give a short account of the sources from which the
history of the Mongols in this volume has been collected, and the
authorities to which I have been indebted. I will begin with the native
chronicler Ssanang Setzen.

SSANANG Setzen was a prince of the Ordus tribe of the Mongols.
He was bom in 1604. His original name was Ssanang Taidshi, and he
was sumamed Ssanang Setzen Khungtaidshi after his grandfather.* He
wrote a work entitled ** Mongol Khadun Toghudji, or a History of the
Mongol Khans,** which was completed in i662.t This work was trans-
lated into German, and published with elaborate notes at St. Petersburgh
in 1829, by Isaac Jacob Schmidt, who, I believe, was a missionary of the
Moravian brotherhood among the Mongols, and who was a very dis-
tinguished Mongol scholar. This is the only indigenous Mongol chronicle
which has been made accessible. It treats of the histoiy of the Eastern
Mongols, from the earliest times to the date when it was written. The
Mongol royal family is traced up to that of Thibet, and the earlier portion
of the work is in fact a history of Thibet, and derived from Lama
sources. That portion which deals with the origines of the Mongols and
their history down to the reign of Toghon Timur Khan is a mutilated
translation from the Chinese, and where it differs from the Chinese
authority is, as has been shown by Remusat and Klaproth in their
criticisms in the Journal Asiatique, not reliable. I have extracted a few
Sagas from this portion of the work, rather as illustrative of Mongol
habits of thought than as being convinced of their reliability. From the
reign of Toghon Timur to the date of its completion, the work of
Ssanang Setzen is an independent and first-rate authority, and during
this period I have made it the basis of my narrative. I have also to
express my great indebtedness to Schmidt's notes, which are exceedingly
valuable and interesting, although not always to be implicitly followed.
Schmidt had a long duel with Klaproth and Remusat on various points
of Mongol history. The controversy may be read in the earlier volumes
of the two first series of the Journal Asiatique, and in it Schmidt was
generally discomfited. I have carefully examined these polemical
writings, and used them in my text and notes.

Schmidt also published in the Memoirs of the St. Petersburgh
Academy for 1834, a translation of a Manchu description of the various
Mongol tribes (exclusive of the Kalmuks), which were subject to China,

* g««w«g Setzen, 265. t /</•> 299, &nd Journ. Asiat., ii. 193.

INTRODUCTION. XVII

with the history of their chiefs and of their final struggle with the Manchu
empire. It is almost the only authority we possess for the subject it
treats of. This has been much used in writing the seventh and eighth
chapters of this work. Another of Schmidt's works, to which I have
been slightly indebted is entitled " Forschungen im Gebiete der alteren
Rehgiosen Politischen und Literarischen Bildungsgeschichte der Volker
Mittel-Asiens vozuglich der Mongolen und Tibeter/' St. Petersburgh,
1824.

We will now turn to the Chinese authorities for Mongol history, no
doubt the most important and valuable authorities we possess.

De Mailla. — Joseph-Anne Marie de Moyriac de Mailla was a French
Jesuit, belonging to the Peking mission, one of a noble band of scholars
to whom we are under very great obligations. He translated an epitome
of Chinese history, known as the Tong-Kieng-Kang-Mu, which was
published in Paris in 1779, ^^ thirteen quarto volumes, and is the only
general history of China we possess. It has constantly been at my elbow
during the progress of this work, and will be found quoted on almost
every page. The volumes which contain references to the Mongols are
the eighth to the twelfth. The ninth is devoted almost entirely to them.
The translation of De Mailla was edited under the superintendence of
M. Deshautesrayes and the Abbe Grosier. As I have said, the work
professes to be a translation of the Kang Mu, and is evidently very
carefully done. We are told by the editor that for the period covered [by
the dynasties of the Liau, Kin, and Yuen or Mongols, the Kang Mu was
singularly deficient in details about the foreign dynasties, and that
consequently De Mailla had recourse to other sources. The Emperor
Shun shi, father of Kang hi, caused the history of these three dynasties
to be translated into Manchu by Charbukai, Nantu, Hokiton, Liau hong
yu, and many other skilled literates. This history, which was written
with the most critical care, has equal authority with the Kang Mu, and
it was translated and incorporated by De Mailla in his work.*

Gaubil. — According to M. Remusat, Gaubil was the greatest of the
French Jesuit scholars who investigated the antiquities of China. He
was born at Gaillac in Languedoc in 1689, became a Jesuit in 1704, and
went to China in 1723, where he greatly distinguished himself as a
scholar. His most celebrated work was the translation of the Shu king
into French. He also translated from the Chinese an epitome of the
history of the Mongols, which was published in 1739 at Paris, under the
title of " Histoire de Gentchiscan et de toute la dynastie des Mongous."t
It is a capital work, and contains many fact$ not mentioned by De
Mailla, and is quite an independent authority. I have used it constantly
in the following work.

* De MaiUft* ix. z. Note. t Remutat, Novveauz MeUnget, iu 277, Ac.

XVIU INTRODUCTION.

ViSDELOU. — We owe to a third member of the Jesuit mission at Paris
a very valuable series of translations from the Chinese, relating to the
history of the various nomades who lived in the desert north of China
and its borderland, namely, Visdelou. He was bom in Brittany in 1656,
and went to China in 1685. His translations are mainly derived from
Matuanlin, the great encyclopaedist, who hved in the thirteenth century,
but he also consulted later authors. His translations are praised for
their faithfulness by M. Remusat. They were published in the supple-
mentary volume to D'Herbelot's Bibliotheque Orientale, of which work
they form the most valuable portion. I have frequently used them in the
subsequent chapters.

De Guignes.— The author of the history of the Huns wrote a history
of the Mongols as a part of his great work. This is largely taken from
Chinese sources, but I have found nothing in it which is not to be found
elsewhere ; nor is this portion of De Guignes's work very satisfactory.
We have considerably advanced in our knowledge of the period since
his day.

Pauthier.— In his edition of Marco Polo and elsewhere, M. Pauthier
has quoted largely from the Yuen Si, or the annals of the Yuen dynasty.
His translations are not always trusted by Chinese scholars, but in the
main are no doubt correct. I have used all the materials he has
published which I could reach and which elucidate my subject. These
chiefly illustrate the reign of Khubilai Khan.

De la Marre.— In the year 1865, M. I'Abbe De la Marre, attached
to the French missions, published a translation of a work composed by
the Emperor Kien lung, entitled " Histoire de la Dynastic des Ming."
It contains many references to the later Mongol history which 1 have
abstracted. Unfortunately the translation is only a fragment, and I am
assured it will not be completed. It covers the ground from 1368 to 1505.
I have frequently used it, and occasionally quoted it as "the Ming
annals,'' which is a somewhat misleading title.

Amiot. — Father Amiot, another member of the Peking mission, pub-
lished in 1776, in the grand collection of materials for Chinese history
known as the " Memoires Concernant I'Histoire des Sciences, &c, des
Chinois," Volume I., a translation of the inscription put on the monument
erected to commemorate his conquest of the Eleuths or Sungars by the
Emperor Kien lung. This lengthy document, with the notes upon it, has
been largely used in the following history. In the same volume is a
similar document relating the wonderful march of the Torguts from
China back to their old homes on the borders of China. This document
was also engraved on stone, and we owe its translation to Father Amiot.
Its contents have been used in writing the ninth chapter.

Hyacinthe, a member of the Russian mission at Peking, and a very
profound Chinese scholar, translated several important works from the

INTRODUCTION. XIX

Chinese, but unfortunately he translated them into Russian, a language
ahnost if not quite as inaccessible. Inter alidy he translated a history of the
first four Mongol Khans. This, I gather from D'Ohsson, is taken from
the same epitomes which were consulted by De',Mailla and Gaubil. The
value of the work consists in the variants he gives us for the proper
names. It has been collated by both Erdmann and D'Ohsson, and in
their works we probably have all the facts which are of any use in
it. A second of his works, namely, a history of the Kalmuks from
Mongol sources, I have not been able to meet with, although I have sent
to Russia for it. I believe it is not to be had. A third work, namely, an
epitome of Chinese history, with an account of his travels in Mongolia,
was translated by M. Borg, under the title of " Denkwurdigkeiten ueber
die Mongolei." It was published at Berlin in 1832, and I have
occasionally used it.

TiMKOWSKl. — M. Timkowski was a savant who was appointed
to accompany the Russian mission to China in 1820 and the following
years. He wrote an account of his journey, which was edited with notes
by Klaproth, and was translated into English in 1827. It is the best
topographical account of Mongolia we possess. To the account of his
travels has been appended a very valuable translation from the Chinese
by Father Hyacinthe, consisting of an historical, geographical, and ethno-
graphical description of Mongolia. I have used it very largely in
composing the seventh and eighth chapters of this work.

SCHOTT. — Professor Schott, of Berlin, one of my honoured correspond-
ents, has published a number of very valuable papers on the history, &c.,
of the Altaic peoples, in the Transactions of the Berlin Academy.
Among these is one I have frequently used in the second chapter of this
work, in which he has examined the question of the Origines of the
Mongols as given by Chinese authors. It is entitled " iClteste Nach
richten von Mongolen und Tataren."

Bergmann. — M. Bergmann was the author of a capital descriptive
work upon the Kalmuks, published at Riga in 1804, under the title
of " Nomadische Streifercien unter den Kalmuken in den Jahren
1802 und 1803." I have used it a good deal in treating of the
Kalmuks.

The next authorities to which I shall refer are unfortunately not so
accessible as the Chinese ; they still remain largely locked up in their
original language, and in fact inedited. I refer to the Persian historians
of the Mongols. They have, however, been diligently and carefully
sifted by such experienced Eastern scholars as De la Croix, D'Ohsson,
Von Hammer, Erdmann, &c., who have distilled for us the essence of
the story in nearly all its details, and criticised in a very skilful way its
inconsistencies and enors. Before I describe their works it will be well
to give a short conspectus of the authorities upon which they are based,

;/'•

XX INTRODUCTION.

and which form the basis, although at secondhand, of a large portion of
our work. The first in date of them was

IBN AL Athir, who was bom at Djezireh, on the borders of the
Tigris, in the year 1160, and died at Mosul in 1233. He was thus a
contemporary of Jingis Khan and of his son Ogotai, and wrote a work
entitled "Kamil ut Tewarikh," 1./., "complete history," which begins
with the creation and terminates in 1231 ; under the year 1220 and those
that follow he gives a description of the Mongol invasion of Transoxiana,
Persia, the borders of the Tigris and Euphrates, Georgia, and the north
of the Caucasus. As he lived at Mosul he had special opportunities for
learning what occurred at this time in Western Persia.*

Nessavi. — ^The next author in date is Shihab ud din Muhammed, son
of Ahmed, styled el Nessavi. He is often spoken of as Nessavi, from the
place of which he was a native, namely, Nessa. He was of princely family,
and his castle was the well known fort of Karendar, between Nessa and
Nishapoor. The work he wrote is known as the ** Siret us Sultan, Jelal
ud din Muhammed," and is a biography of the celebrated Khuarezm
chief, Jelal ud din, son of Muhammed, whose secretary he was. He was
incited to write this book from having casually met with the work of Ibn
al Athir, and there read an account of the end of Muhammed and of the
youth of his son. The book is contained in 108 chapters, and was
written in 1241, and gives the history of Jelal ud din until his death in
1 23 1. His narrative, we are told, is singularly ingenuous and interesting,
and he was also singularly well-placed for acquiring correct notions on
what he wrote. He only mentions the Mongols occasionally. t

Alai ud DIN Ata Malik Juveini.— This author was a native of
Juvein in Khorassan, and his work is called " Tarikh Jihankushai, or
History of the Conqueror of the World." In 1252 he accompanied his
father, who was in the Mongol service, to the grand Kuriltai held at the
accession of Mangu Khan. He accompanied Khulagu in his expedition,
and was by him appointed governor of Baghdad, Irak Arab, and
Khuzistan, a post which he occupied until his death in 1283. His work is
divided into two parts. The first one contains an account of the last ten
years of the reign of Jingis Khan and of the reigns of Ogotai and Kuyuk,
vdth chapters on the Uighurs and the Khans of Kara Khitai, a detailed
history of the Khuarezm Shahs, and of the doings of the Mongols in
Persia until the arrival of Khulagu there. The second part describes
Khulagu's western campaign, and also contains a detailed account of the
Ismailites or Assassins. It terminates in 1257. His position prevented
Juveini from being anything but a panegyrist of the Mongols, whose
conquests he excuses, and whose western campaign he argues was

* D'OhBton, i. x. Abel Remuut, Nouveaux Melanges Aiiatique, i. 434^
t D*Ohtson, i. xUL Remotat, op. cit., 435.

INTRODUCTION. xxi

providentially arranged, so that by their means the religion of Islam
might be widely disseminated. He praises their tolerance and the way
in which they exempted from taxes the ministers of religion and others ;
but he breaks out occasionally in a different strain. *^ The revolution,"
he says, *' which has overwhelmed the world, has destroyed the colleges,
and slaughtered the learned, especially in Khorassan, which was the
focus of light, the rendezvous oi the learned, as is shown by the words
of the prophet : * Science is a tree whose roots are at Mecca while it
bears fruit in Khorassan.' All the learned men there have falle
by the sword. The nobodies who have replaced them know only
the Uighur language and writing. The highest offices are filled by the
meanest people, many contemptible folk have been enriched. Every
intriguer has become an emir or vizier. Every braggart has become
powerful. The slave is become the patron ; anyone who wears a doctor's
turban deems himself a doctor, and obscure people consider themselves
gentry. In such times, which are a period of famine for science and
virtue, and of a full market for ignorance and corruption, where all
honesty is degraded, where everything bad is held in honour, it may be
guessed what encouragement there is for science and letters."*

Vassaf.— Abdullah, son of Fazel uUah, styled Vassaf ul Hazret, or the
Panegyrist of his majesty, wrote in Persian a work entitled " Kitab
Tcdjziyet ul emssar ve tezdjiyet ul a'ssar " (i.^.. Division of countries and
transition of centuries). It contains a history of the Mongols from 1357
to 1327, and forms a sort of continuation to the Jihankushai. It is
divided into five parts, and describes the doings of the Mongols in
Persia, in Turkestan, and Transoxiana, with the contemporary history of
Egypt, Pars, Kerman, and India. He was a proteg^ of the vizier
Raschid ud din, to whom I shall presently refer, by whom he was
presented to the Ilkhan Uldjaitu, who gave him the soubriquet of Vassaf
ul Hazret as a reward for an ode he wrote in his honour.

Raschid. — The most valuable Western authority on the history of the
Mongols is the " Jami ut Tewarikh," or collection of aimals written by
Fadhl allah or Fazel ullah Raschid, son of Abulkhair of Hamadan. Raschid
was a doctor in the service of the Ilkhan Gazan, and was in the year
1300 made governor of Persia. He continued in the office of vizier
during the reign of Uldjaitu, to whom he presented his work in 1307, and
was put to death by his successor Abusaid on the 13th of September, 13 18.
This most valuable history commences with a conspectus of the various
tribes of Asia at the accession of Jingis Khan, with an account of their
origin and the topography of the districts they inhabited, &c. This portion
of his work has been translated by Erdmann, and appeared at Kazan in
the year 1841. It is a very rare work, and I have been happy in having

* D'Ohnon, i. xvii. to xxviii. RemuMt, op. dt., i. 436*

XXII INTRODUCTION.

had it beside me. The same part of Raschid's history is extracted ahnost
verbatim in Erdmann's life of Temudjin, 172-248. Raschid then gives
an account of the traditions which he had been able to collect on the
early history of the Mongols, and continues his story by relating the
events that happened under Mongol rule until the period when he wrote.
He tells us that in the archives of the Persian Mongols were many
authentic papers^ written in Mongol, which had been entrusted to him by
the Ilkhan Uldjaitu, in order that he might draw up a history, and that
to assist him there had been assigned a number of Chinese, Indian,
Uighur, and Kipchak learned men, and especially the great Noyan Pulad
Ching sang, who was generalissimo and administrator of the kingdom,
and was well versed in the traditions and history of the Turkish nations,
and especially of that of the Mongols. His work is largely based on the
JihankushaL and other works already mentioned, but contains a great
deal of additional matter/ It is a great pity that it is still inaccessible.
M. Quatremere commenced a translation of it on a very large scale, with
ample notes, but it did not go beyond one volume. The work of Raschid
forms the main authority used by Erdmann in his life of Temudjin, of
D'Ohsson's history of the Mongols, and of Von Hammer's Ilkhans, and
we have it abridged in the well known work of Abulghazi.

Abulghazi. — He was the son of Arab Muhammed Khan, and a
descendant of Juji, the son of Jingis, was born in 1605, became chief
of Elhuarezm in 1643, ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ 1663-64. He wrote a work entitled
"Shedjeri i Turki," the genealogical tree of the Turks. It is written in
Turki, and has been recently edited and translated by M. Des-maisons.
The earlier portion of it is an abridgment of Raschid, the latter is
founded on original documents otherwise inaccessible. It will be found
quoted frequently in the following work.

Abulfaradj. — Gregory Abulfaradj, also known as Bar Hebra^us, was
bom in 1226, at Malattia or Mehtene, and was the son of a doctor named
Aaron. He became a cleric, and at the age of twenty was appointed
bishop of Gobos. He was afterwards translated to Aleppo, and became
in 1264 Maphriam or primate of the Jacobites. He wrote a meagre
chronicle in Syriac, known as the "Abridgment of Universal History.''
What it contains in regard to the Mongols is chiefly derived from
Juveini, but he gives us a good many details about the eastern Christians
not otherwise to be met with.t

These arc the chief Eastern authorities for Mongol history.

We will now turn to European authors who have dealt with the same
subject. First in point of date are the narratives of the missionary
friars.

Carpini. — John of Piano Carpini was so called from a place in the

* D'Ohftson, i. xzziii. to xUv. RemuMt, op. cit., 438. t D'Ohuon, i. 46, &c

INTRODUCTION. XXUl

territory of Perugia. He was a Franciscan friar who was sent by Pope
Innocent on a mission to the Mongol Khan. He set out in April, 1245,
and returned in the autumn of 1247. His narrative has been edited by
M. D'Avezac, in the 4th volume of the Receueil de Voyages et Memoires,
399. It is of great interest and value for the reign of Kuyuk Khan.*

RUBRUQUIS. — It has been supposed that this traveller, who was also a
Franciscan, was a native of Ruysbrok in Brabant, and I have called him
more than once William of Ruysbrok, but Colonel Yule says there is a
place called Rubrouck in French Flanders, and its name occurs fre-
quently in old documents published by M. Coussemaker, of Lille, in which
we read of a Thierry de Rubrouc in 1 190, a Gauthier du Rubrouc in 1202
and' 1221, a Jean du Rubrouc in 1250, and a Woutermaun de Rubrouc in
1258; and NL D*Avezac and Colonel Yule argue that our traveller was
one of the same stock.t He was sent on a similar mission to Carpini's
by St. Louis, and arrived at the Mongol camp in the reign of Mangu
Khan. He entered the Black Sea on the 7th of May, 1253. His
narrative has also been published, with valuable notes by M. D'Avezac,
in the work above named. Rubruquis supplies us with many facts
about the reign of Mangu.

HAYTHON,the king of Little Armenia, also went to the court of Mangu
Khan, and has left us a short account of his journey, which has been
translated by Klaproth.t

Marco Polo. — The most valuable of all Western authorities, however,
from the means he had of acquiring information, from the long time he
lived among the Mongols, and from the length and accuracy of his work,
was Marco Polo. Andrea Polo, of St. Felice at Venice, says Colonel
Yule, had three sons, Marco, Nicolo, and Maffeo. The three brothers
were merchants, and had houses at Constantinople and Soldaia in the
Crimea. In 1260 the two younger of these brothers started on a trading
venture, first to the Crimea, then by way of the Volga to Bokhara, and
thus on to the court of the Great Khan Khubilai. Khubilai received
them kindly, made many inquiries about Europe, and eventually
sent them back on an embassy to the Pope. They arrived at Acre in
April, 1269, and found the Pope dead, Clement IV. having died the year
before. They then went to Venice. Nicolo had two sons, the eldest of
whom was named Marco. He was the subject of this notice. When his
father returned to Venice Marco was fifteen years old. In 1271 the two
brothers set out on their return to the East, taking young Marco with
them. They travelled by way of Baghdad to Hormuz on the Persian
Gulf, then turning northwards traversed Kerman and Khorassan, Balkh
and Badakshan, and reached the Pamir steppe. This they crossed, and

* Catbay and the Way Thither, cxxiii.
t Ynie'a Marco Polo, 2nd Ed., ii. 336. ; Noav. Jonro. Asiat., xii. 373, ice

n

xxiv INTRODUCnOK.

then continued by way of Kashgar , Yarkand, Khotan, by lake Lob and
Tangut, until they reached Khubilai's court in 1275. Khubilai was very
kind to the young Polo, whom he took into his service. His first mission
was one to Yunnan, and he filled various offices. For three years he
was governor of the important city of Yang chau, on one occasion he
passed a year at Kanchau with his uncle Maffeo, at another time he was
at Karakorum, at a third at Champa or Southern Cochin China, and even
in the Indian seas. The Venetians now wished to return home, but
Khubilai did not like to part with them. In 1286 the Ilkhan Argun
sent to China for a wife of the Imperial stock. His envoys, who rather
dreaded the return journey by sea alone, asked that the three Feringhis
might accompany them, and Khubilai at length consented. They set sail
in 1292, and after many mishaps in the Indian seas, arrived in two years
at the Persian court, and having been handsomely entertained there, at
length reached Venice in 1295, and with the wealth which they had
accumulated proceeded to either purchase or build themselves a palace
there, known as the Corte del Millioni, of which there are still some
remains. A year or two later Marco appears as the captain of a galley
fighting for Venice against Genoa ; and in the great fight which took
place in 1298, near the Island of Curzola, the Venetians were defeated
and Marco was taken prisoner. While in prison he met a learned Pisan
named Rusticiano or Rustichello, who wrote down from his dictation an
account of the marvellous and unique adventures of the traveller. In
July 1299 a truce was agreed to between the two rfepublics, an2b Marco
once more regained his hberty. He lived many years afterwards at
Venice, and died in 1324. Such is a bald epitome of the most romantic
life of probably any traveller, as I have taken it from Colonel Yule's
great work. It will be seen into how many strange lands he went, and
considering that in all probability he had taken few notes, it is marvellous
how exceeding accurate his narrative is. It is in every way very
valuable, and I have used it freely. Two recent editions of it have been
before me— one by M. Pauthier, which is accompanied by many erudite
notes from Chinese authors ; and the other by my friend Colonel Yule, a
complete encyclopaedia of mediaeval lore about Asia, a wonderful
collection of illustrative matter from various sources, and a very pattern
of how a book should be edited. I may add that during the progress of
this work Colonel Yule has brought out a second edition. The new
matter ^all be found incorporated, but it must be noted that the
references are to the first edition, except when the second edition is men-
tioned. Besides Marco Polo, Colonel Yule has brought together a very
interesting series of small notices of China in his work, published by the
Hakluyt Society, entitled " Cathay and the Way Thither." Among these
are the letters of Odoric of Pordenone, a town in the district of Friuli,
who was bom in 1286, and became a missionary friar. He travelled in

INTRODUCTION. XXV

the earlier part of the fourteenth century in India and China, and died in
1331. I have extracted what he says of the Mongols. Besides Odoric
there may be found in the same work the letters of John of Monte
Corvinoi the founder of the Catholic missions in China. He was bom
in 1247, and probably reached Khanbalig in 1294, and about 1307 was
created archbishop of that city. His letters are interesting, and I have
used them as well as those of other missionaries in the same collection.
1 must not forget to say that Colonel Yule's notes have been as valuable
to me as the text they illustrate. We will now turn to more modem
authorities.

Petis de la Croix. — De la Croix was bom in 1622, and died in
1695, and was a distinguished Eastem scholar, having filled the post of
interpreter to the French king in the Turkish and Arabic languages.
He was the author of several learned works, such as a history of France,
written in Turkish ; an edition of the travels of the younger Thevenot ;
a catalogue of the Turkish and Persian books in the French library, &c.;
but the two works with which his name is chiefly associated were his
history of Jingis Khan and his successors, and of Timur. The former
work he undertook at the instance of the minister Colbert. It cost him,
we are told, ten years' labour, and it was published after his death. It is
a wonderfully able work considering the period when it was written, and
many portions of it may still be read profitably. It is founded on the
Persian and Arabic authorities, and on the narratives of the European
travellers. He gives a list of his sources, which range over nearly the
whole field of Eastem literature, and prove him to have been a very
diligent writer. I have frequently used his work.

Von Hammer. — Von Hanmier's name is known wherever Eastem
studies are prosecuted. His history of the Ottomans is a gigantic work,
which probably equals the very greatest efforts that have ever been put
forth by a historian in the way of diligent research and of consulting an
immense mass of authorities. We are indebted to him for two other
works which throw great light on Mongol history, and which have been
constantly at my elbow, namely, his history of the Golden Horde of
Kipchak, an elaborate examination of the history of the Mongol Khanate
founded by Batu, the grandson of Jingis, in Sou them Russia and the
Kiighiz Kazak country, which is the standard and only work on the
subject, and which I shall use largely in the second volume ; and a
history of the Ilkhans of Persia, pubhshed at Darmstadt in 1842, and
from which I have drawn largely for my account of Khulagu's campaign,
and shall draw still more in the second volume.

lyOHSSON. — ^Thc name of D'Ohsson occurs on very many pages of
this work. The Baron D'Ohsson was the author of a history of the
Mongols from the time of Jingis Khan to that of Timur, in four volumes,
winch was published at Amsterdam in 1853. M. D'Ohsson was a

\

XXVI INTRODUCTION.

skilful Eastern scholar, and his work is a very able one. He has
ransacked almost every authority for his facts, and his book forms the
main pillar upon which I have relied in large sections of the present
work.

Erdmann. — M. Erdmann, a professor at Kazan, to whom I have
already referred, published in 1862, at Leipzig, a very able and profound
work on the life of Jingis Khan, under the title of " Temudschin der
Unerschutterliche,'* with an ample introduction on the ethnography
of Asia, and a great crowd of most useful notes. It is a very perfect and
detailed monograph on the subject, and I have made ample use of it, as
may be seen from my references.

Wolff.— M. Wolff, a professor at Vienna, has recently published a
history of the Mongols from the earliest times to the death of Ogotai
Khan, in which he has examined with great care and skill the various
accounts extant of the campaign of Batu Khan and his companions in
Russia and Central Europe. He has specially availed himself of the
contemporary narratives of European writers, many of which he has first
brought to bear upon the subject. I have frequently used his work.

MULLER. — M. MuUer, in 1732 and the following years, published,
under the auspices of the Imperial Russian Academy, a great collection
of materials on Russian history, in eight volumes. This contains many
of the original narratives of the early discoveries of the Cossacks in
Siberia. I have used it largely in writing the history of the Kalmuks.

Fischer.— Johann Eberhard Fischer, a professor at Gottingen, pub-
lished in 1768 a history of Siberia in two volumes, which unfortunately
does not come down below the third quarter of the seventeenth century.
I have frequently used his work.

Pallas. — Pallas was one of the most distinguished scholars the
Russians have produced. The narrative of his travels through Siberia
and Southern Russia are well known. Besides these he published a
great work on the history, ethnology, religion, &c., of the Mongols. This
is entitled " Samlun^en Historischer Nachrichten ueber die Mon-
golischen Volkerschaften," and it was published in two quarto volumes
at St. Petersburgh in 1776. It contains large materials for the history of
the Kalmuks, which I have freely used.

Klaproth. — Among those to whom I bow the most deeply, who, with
all his faults of temper and some few mistakes (and who has made so
few), I hold to have been the greatest giant among the writers on
Eastern subjects, is Julius Klaproth. The vast range of his linguistic
acquirements, his instinct and ingenuity and fertility are astounding.
He was the first to reduce the chaos of Asiatic history to something
like order, and it is astonishing how little real advance has been made
in many of the subjects he treated since he wrote. I am immensely
indebted to him. I shall never cease to reverence his memory^. His

INTRODUCTION. XXVII

various papers and essays are so numerous that it is not convenient to
enumerate them. Many of them may be seen in the Journal Asiatique,
others in various collections, while his travels to the Caucasus and his
Asia Polyglotta are universally known ; but there is hardly a point of
Eastern history which he has not illuminated.

Remusat.— Abel Remusat, the distinguished French Sinologue, the
author of the great work unfortunately incomplete, entitled " Les
Langrues Tartares," of many essays on Eastern subjects, and of the three
scries of " Melanges Asiatiques," is another author from whom I have
learnt much. In the present work I have chiefly to thank him for the
translated biographies in the first series of the " Melanges Asiatiques."

I have now given a cursory survey of my main authorities. There are
many others, such as Isbrand Ides, d'Auteroche, Gmelin, Georgi,
Du Halde (whom I have quoted from the English edition of I739f in four
volumes octavo), Gregorief, Madame de Hell, Ritter, Petermann, Karamzin,
Oppert, Bruun, Porter Smith, Vambery, Hue, Raverty, &c., whom I have
laid under contribution, and to whom I have given references. I may
say that in every instance, save perhaps one, these references have been
taken from the works quoted, and not at secondhand, and they have
been generally verified three or four times over; and I hope that I
have not appropriated credit for anything which has not been duly
acknowledged.

It is permissible here to express a regret that so much of the original
matter relating to the history of the Mongols is still buried in MS. or
otherwise inaccessible. That the annals of the Yuen dynasty, otherwise
called the Yuen si, should remain untranslated is perhaps pardonable,
since they are of considerable length and in some parts intolerably dry,
but that the great history of Raschid, perhaps the noblest historical
work in the Persian language, and one also of the most critical
and valuable, should still remain in manuscript is deplorable ; and one
cannot help feeling it a reproach to French scholars, who have done so
much for the history of the East, that they have not completed the task
so nobly begun by Quatremere. It is to be hoped that the school of
Persian scholars presided over by M. Schefer will not only give us this
work but also Juveini and Muhammed of Nessa.

It is another matter of regret that so much that is valuable in the
researches of Russian scientific men, and especially of the Russian
mission at Peking, should be lost to nine-tenths of the world by being
written only in Russian. It is perhaps natural that it should be so
written, and that the patriotism of Russian scholars should rebel against
making a foreign language the medium of publishing their researches
to the world, but it is nevertheless very unfortunate, for it inevitably
buries a great deal of matter which would otherwise fructify, and it
inevitably makes Russia a very much smaller figure in the scientific

xxrm IXTRODrcnOS.

MTjtid iLjtn It CMtzTis. Rossian is an exceedingly difiBcnh language, and
h is Lard!T to be expected that Western students who arc interested in
Eastern S':d>ject5 shoald master Rossian as well as German and French
as a prr!:Tn:nary to their inquiries. Rnssan scholars, on the other hand,
ve iidlfsl linguists, and it b not very long ago that most of their
•dexiti£c papers were either written in German or French, or appeared
in dopUcate. We are all very grateful for such publications as the
Melanges Russes and the Nfelai^es Asiadques, published by the
Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg, and their vahie prompts me (and 1
know I speak the sentiments of the great majority of Western scholars)
to desire that the same kind of work was done on a larger scale, and that
the results of the profound researches of Hyacinthe, Palladius, Gregorief,
&c^ were not entirely buried from us. How much buried one anecdote
win suffice to show. Among the Chinese annals probably the most
valuable and interesting, and also the oldest, are the well-known annals
of the elder Han, of which a small fragment has recently been translated
by my friend Mr. Wylie. Some time ago it was proposed at the
International Congress of Orientalists that these annals should be
translated, and that the work of translation should be distributed among
the Chinese scholars of Europe. One of the foremost Russian scientific
men was approached on the subject, and the answer given was, that the
matter was of small interest to them since the annals had long ago been
translated into Russian by Hyacinthe. This answer was literally true,
and yet how disappointing. Not only are the annals as much buried as
they were before, to Western scholars, but 1 don't know of any Russian
who has made use of them. I hope sincerely that it may be seen that the
vast work which is annually done by Russian scientific men deser\'es to
be widely known, and that if it be patriotism to write in Russian, it is
surely also patriotism to make Russia take the ver}' high place it ought
to do in the scientific world, instead of isolating and burying from foreign
eyes the vast wealth of matter which its scholars have accumulated.

The maps accompanying this volume have been drawn by the
practised hand of my friend Mr. Ravenstein, and incorporate the latest
discoveries. One of them gives a view of that portion of Europe and
Asia which was trodden under by the Mongols in the thirteenth centur>',
the other is a special map of Mongolia as it is now constituted.

Derby House, Eccles, j2th April, 1876.

CHAPTER I.

BEFORE entering upon the proper subject of this work, I have
deemed it convenient to give in the following chapter a general
survey of the various nations and tribes of Asia with which the
Mongols came in contact in the beginning of the thirteenth century.
And I have included in it all the tribes mentioned by Raschid which
there is reason for believing were other than Mongol.

CHINA — The most powerful and important neighbour of the Mongols
in their early days was no doubt the Chinese Empire, which had been for
a long time divided into two sections. On the fall of the great dynasty of
the Thang, which reigned from 6i6 to 907, and which controlled the whole
of China proper, it broke into ten fragments, ruled over by the governors
of the various provinces. This division gave rise naturally to a great
deal of internal dissention, and favoured the ambitious views of the tribes
on the northern frontier. At this period the south-eastern part of
Mongoha and the districts of Liau si and Liau tung were occupied by a
number of tribes known collectively as Khitan. The exact affinities of
these tribes are among the most puzzling riddles in Eastern ethnology,
Mr. Wylie, of Shanghai, a very much esteemed Chinese scholar, has
favoured me with a list of Khitan words, considerably more extended than
that collected by Klaproth, and from an examination of these, and from
other considerations I am disposed to think that the Khitans (as is natural
perhaps in a frontier race), were very much mixed and had affinities with
Mongols, Coreans, and Tunguses. 1 am quite satisfied, at all events,
that it is a mistake to make them a Tunguisic tribe in the same
sense that the Manchus and their ancestors the Juchi Tartars are
Tunguses. The principal tribe among the Khitans was that of the
Sh^ liu or Thie la, pronounced Ye liu by the Chinese which lived in the
district where is situated the ruined town of Barin in Mongolia. About
the year 907 the chief of this tribe, named Juliji Apaoki, having sub-
dued the other Khitan tribes, made himself master of the greater part
of the borderers on the g^eat desert of Shamo, and in 916 had himself
proclaimed Wangti or Emperor. With an astonishing rapidity he
conquered the country from Kashgar in the west to the mountains Thsun
ling in the east. Lake Baikal bounded his empire on the north, while

2 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

on the south he conquered considerable districts in the north-east Oi
China and the greater part of Corea. He established his court at Liau
yang in Liau tung, and afterwards moved it to Yan in Pehchehli, the
modem Peking.* He died in 927 a.d. His son and successor Tai tsun
assisted a Chinese general who had rebelled and helped him to mount
the throne. In return for this service the new Emperor, who held his
court at Pien, now Kai fong fu, on the southern bank of the Yellow
River, ceded sixteen districts in the provinces of Pehchehli, Shansi, and
Liautung to him, and undertook to pay him annually a subsidy of
300,000 pieces of silk, and even acknowledged himself his vassal in
the letters which he addressed to him, by styling himself his grandson
and subject. The successor of this Emperor having endeavoured to break
these engagements, Tai tsun marched against him, conquered the pro-
vinces north of the Yellow River, captured Pien, siezed the Emperor and
carried him off into Tartary. In the year 937 the Khitan Emperor gave
his dynasty the title of Liau, which means iron.t After the fall of the
Thang, five small dynasties successively occupied the metropolitan
throne of Kai fong fou. On their ruins there arose in 960 the dynasty of
the Sung, which once more reunited the greater part of China under its
sceptre. The Sung Emperors fought against the Khitans, but could not
wrest from them the sixteen districts which had been ceded, as I have
mentioned, and at length, in 1004, the Sung Emperor undertook to pay
the Khitan ruler an annual tribute in silver and silken goods, t The
power and influence of the Khitans must have been both very great and
very wide spread. They seem to have been obeyed by all the tribes of
Mongols, Turks, and Tunguses who inhabited the country from lake
Balkhash to the Yellow Sea, and a very good proof of their influence
may be cited in the fact that they gave a name to China by which it
became familiar to the Arabs, Persians, and Turks, and through them
to the mediaeval writers of Europe, namely, Cathay. The contact of the
Khitans and the Chinese was followed, as seems to be universally the case
there, by the gradual weaning of the race of soldiers from their old habits
and the acquirement of the effeminate manners which prevail in Eastern
courts. This change enabled another and more vigorous face to supplant
them. This was the race of the Juchi or Niuchi, the ancestors of the
present Manchu dynasty in China. The Juchi lived in that part of
Manchuria bounded on the north by the Amur, on the east by the ocean,
on the south by Corea, and on the west by the river Sungari, which
separated their country from that of the Khitans. The leader of this
revolt was named Aguta. He rebelled in 11 14, won several victories
ov^r the Khitans, and the following year adopted the title of Wangti, and
gave his new empire the name of Aijin kurun, in Chinese Kin kue, />.,

* Klaprotb, Tableaux Hiitoriques, &c., 83, 89. t D'Ohason, i. 115. ; Id., iij.

CHINA. 3

golden realm, whence its Mongol name Allan or Altun, " golden.** He
then commenced a vigorous campaign against the Khitans, whom he
rapidly conquered. He died in 1123. His successor U ki nai followed
up his victories, subdued the empire of Hia, and captured the Khitan
Emperor Yeliu Yen hi, who had fled in that direction, the ninth and last
of his race who ruled in China. A prince of the fallen house and some
of his followers escaped westwards and founded another empire, namely,
that of the Kara Khitai, to which I shall presently refer.

The invasion of the Juchi was abetted by the Sung Emperor, who
doubtless hoped by their means to recover possession of the lost pro-
vinces in Northern China, but he soon found reason to repent of his policy.
In 1 125 the Juchi invaded Southern China. The year following they
advanced as far as the river Hoang ho, and laid siege to Kai fong fu, the
capital of the Sung empire. The Sung Emperor went to the camp of the
invaders to ask for terms, but was sent off to Tartary with his family.
His brother escaped and was proclaimed Emperor by the Chinese. The
Juchi proceeded to conquer the northern portion of China, penetrated
beyond the river Yang tsi, captured Lin ngan, the chief city of the
province of Che kiang, and, after securing many victories, made peace with
the Sung Emperor in 1142, by which the conquests they had made were
ceded to them, and they were to receive an annual tribute of 250,000
ounces of silver and 250,000 pieces of silk, while the Sung Emperor
declared himself their vassal. The rivers Hoai and Han became the
boundaries of the two empires, the Kin Emperor ruling over the provinces
of Pehchehli, Shan si, Shang tung, Honan, and the northern part of
Shen si, which were collectively known as Khan zi to the Chinese, while
the southern empire was known to them and to Marco Polo as Manzi.
The Mongols called it Nangkias. The capital of the former was the city
anciently known as Yen king or Chun king. When the Kin Emperor in
1 1 53 moved the seat of empire there he gave it the name of Ta hing fu,
and the title of Chung tu, or Imperial city of the centre. It is now
widely celebrated as Peking, <>., " the northern capital." The Mongols
called it Khanbalig. The Sung Emperor's capital was Lin ngan, called
also Hang chau in Ch6 kiang. In the northern section, subject to the
Kin dynasty, thete were five cities distinguished as Imperial residences :
I. Liau yang chau in Liau tung, called the eastern court ; in Chinese
Tung-ldng. 2. Tai-tung-fu in Shansi, the western court, or Si-king. 3.
The present city of Peking, then called Chung tu or Chung king, or
central court. 4. Pien leang or Kai fong fu, on the southern bank
of the Yellow River in Honan, which was the southern court, or
Nan king. And lastly, 5. Ta ning fu, on the river Loha in
Northern China, then called the northern court, or Peking,* which

* D'Ohsson, 120, 121. Notes.

4 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

must of course be carefully distinguished from the Peking or
northern court of our day. Besides their authority in China, the Kin
Emperors were lords paramount in the steppes and deserts beyond, but
their influence there was very much more Umited than that of the
Khitans. It probably extended little beyond the immediate borders of
China. We know that Sungaria and the towns on either side of the
Thian Shan mountains, which were apparently subject to the Khitans,
were controlled by the enemies and rivals of the Kin, the Kara Khitai,
while the Mongols, as we shall see, began to act a very independent part
almost immediately after the Kin conquest of Northern China. Even in
Manchuria we find Juchi tribes acting independently of the central
authority in China under their own princes. These independent tribes
were probably the ancestors of the modern Solons. We may take it,
therefore, that although they were no doubt dependent, their dependence
was largely nominal. Having briefly pointed out the condition of China,
we will now turn to the adjoining and subordinate empire of Hia, which
was so terribly desolated by Jingis Khan, and where, as one learns from
Mr. Morgan, the groans and shrieks of the spirits of those whom he so
ruthlessly slaughtered still haunt the place, and add to the horrors of the
surrounding wilderness.*

HIA, OR TANGUT. — This empire was known in early times to the
Mongols as Kashin or Eashi, which is a corruption of the Chinese word
Ho-si. This means " west of the river," and designated the great
province of Shen si, which lay west of the Yellow River. While Jingis
was undertaking the conquest of Kashi, Ogotai had a son to whom the
name of Kashi was given, but he died young from excessive drinking,
upon which the name was changed.! At first it was changed to Kurik,
and afterwards to Tangut.t A Chinese Uighur vocabulary, cited by
Klaproth, gives Cho si as the synonym of Tangut, and another of
Chinese and Bukharian words gives it as TanghutJ The Thibetans
called it Niraak.|| The name of Tangut is derived from the tribe
Thang hiang, who according to Ma tuan lin, were descended from
the primitive inhabitants of China, namely, the San Miao, and were
driven by the Chinese into Kokonur and Eastern Thibet. They lived in
early times in the country of Si chi, west of the department of Liu
thao, in the modern Chinese province of Kan suh ; their country was
traversed by the very sinuous channel of the Yellow River. In the third
and fourth centuries of our era the Emperors of the Chinese dynasties
Wei and Tsin began to abate the power of the Eastern Thibetans called
Khiang. In the sixth century the Emperors of the Chau dynasty
destroyed the power of the tribe Thang chang. Afterwards other

'Geographical Magazine, ii. 306. t D'Ohuon, i. 95. Note.

I Brdmann't Temujin, 153. Note 2. } Klaproth, Beleuchtung, &c., 64.

B Schmidt's Ssanang Setzen, Passim.

KARA KHITAI. 5

Thibetans named Teng chi became powerful. They were in turn dis-
placed by the Thang hiang or Tangut.* Li ki tsien, the chief of this
tribe, who was ruler of Hia chan and a feudatory of the empire, took
advantage of the anarch^p^^hich existed in China at the end of the tenth
century, refused to acknowledge the Chinese ruler, and submitted to the
Khitans ; but in 1043 his grandson Chao yuen hao submitted to the
Sung Emperor, who granted him the title of Emperor of Hia. At first
their country was very limited in extent, but they conquered a large area
in Shensi.t At the beginning of the twelfth century they were in
possession of Hia chau, in chau, Sui chau, Yan chau, Tsing chau. Ling
chau, Yan chau, Hoei chau, Ching chau, Kou chau, and Liang chau,
towns situated on the north of the modern provinces of Kansu and
Shensi, and the country of the Ordus. They had conquered the towns
of Sha chau, Kua chau, and Su chau from the Uighurs, and were also
possessed of the fortified posts of Hung, Ting, Wei, and Lung.J The
topography of Tangut is very confused, as may be seen from Colonel
Yule's narrative.! Klaproth says that Hing chau, now called Ninghia,
was the capital of the kingdom. It was situated at a small distance
from the left bank of the Yellow River, where this river leaves the
province of Kansuh and enters Mongolia. This town, according to
Raschid, was called in the Tangutan language Eyirkai, and by the
Mongols Eyirkaya. By Ssanang Setzen it is called Irghai.|| Ssanang
Sctzen distinguishes between Turmegei or Termegetu, which he calls the
capital of Tangut, and Irghai, but he is an authority of no value for this
period.ir Irghai seems to be the city called Wuhlahai by the Chinese,and is
to be identified with the Egrigaia of Marco Polo, the Erequir of De la Croix,
and was captured by Jingis in his second expedition. It and its district are
tentatively identified by Colonel Yule with the principality of Alashan.**
Raschid tells us the name of the Emperor of Hia in the time of Jingis
was Lung Shidirghu, the Shidurgo of Ssanang Setzen ; he adds, there
were many kings in the country. Among the great cities which were
royal residences he names Kendjan fu, Kamdjiu, Azerdi, Khaladjan, and
An Balik ; besides these there were twenty-four other large towns in the
empire. The greater portion of their inhabitants, he says, were
Mussulmans, but the villagers and their chiefs were mainly Buddhists. ft
KARA KHITAI. — Having surveyed the chief powers encountered by
the Mongols on the south, we will now do the same for the west. When
the Khitan empire was overthrown by the Kin Tatars in 11 22 or 11 23, as
I have described, a member of the Imperial family of the Liau or Khitan
dynasty escaped westwards with a following of about 2,000 men. H is name
was Yeliu Tashi, or, according to western writers, Tushi Talgun, and also

* Klaproth, Noav. Joum. Atiat., xi. 462. t D'Ohtson, i. 96. J Klaproth, op. cit, 462.

{ Marco Polo, 2nd Ed., i. 273. U Nouv. Journ. Asiat., xi. 463. t Op. cit., zoi and 243.

•• Yule'i Marco Polo, 2nd Ed., 273. tt Klaproth, Nouv. Journ. Asiat., xi. 464. Note.

6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Tushi Taifu.* He was well received by the chiefs of the various Turkish
tribes who had been dependent on his dynasty, and by means of the contin-
gents they supplied him with, he succeeded in getting together a very con-
siderable army. He first settled in the valley^ the I mil, and, according
to Carpini, built the town there which afterwards became the capital of
the Khanate of Ogotai, and which was situated not far from the modem
Khuguchak, otherwise called Tarbagatai. At this time the Turkish
Khans of .Turkestan, who claimed descent from the mythical Afrasiab,
had become very feeble, and were constantly threatened by the Karluks,
Kankalis, and other nomades in their neighbourhood, and we are told
that Yeliu Tashi was called in to the rescue. He speedily occupied
Balasaghun, their capital, and then deposed the descendant of Afrasiab
from his dignity of Khan, leaving him only the title of Ilk Turkan, or
chief of the Turks. He then proceeded to conquer the Karluks, whose
chiefs, the Arslan Khans, apparently dominated over Kashgar and
Khotan, and the country of Little Bukharia. He was acknowledged as
their suzerain by the Idikut or chief of the Uighurs of Bishbalig ; he
defeated the Kankalis and Kirghises, and made himself master ot
Ferghanah and Transoxiana, and then ravaged the country of Khuarezm
and made its ruler tributary. He then took the title of Gurkhan, or
great Khan. I have discussed the site of his capital, Balasaghun, in
some letters in the Geographical Magazine, and have endeavoured
to fix it at the ruinheaps of It Kichu, on the river Chu, which I
believe represent the Equius of Rubruqius. Thence he governed
a vast territory. The country immediately subject to him was that
watered by the Chu, the Jaxartes, and the great plains that border the
Balkhash sea on the south-east, but, as I have said, the Turkish tribes to
the east were dependent on him. Among these the most important no
doubt were the Karluks, whose capital was Almaligh, the modem Kuldja,
and who ruled over a considerable territory on both sides of the Thian
Shan range, and the Uighurs, who lived at Bishbalig, />., Urumtsi. He
doubtless also was more or less dominant over the Naimans, about whom
I shall have more to say presently. He was no doubt the most powerful
sovereign of Central Asia, and his career of rapid conquest was a pro-
totype on a smaller scale of that of Jingis Khan in later days, while the
integration of the various Turkish tribes of Sungaria and Turkestan
under his sceptre made the path of the succeeding conqueror much more
easy, for when he defeated the usurper of the throne of Kara Khitai
named Kushluk, he became at once the master of a regulated and
tolerably orderly empire, and not of a mere congeries of broken tribes,
and an empire which stretched from the Oxus to the great desert of
Shamo, and from Thibet to the Altai.

* Tuihi in Chinese meant commander-in-chief. D'Ohsson, i. 163. Note.

KHUAREZM. ^

KHUAREZM.— West, or rather south-west of Kara Khitai, and
bordering upon it, was the empire of Khuarezm, with which the Mongols
had a most bloody and prolonged struggle. This empire, like several
others in South-western 4sia, was founded by a Turk who had been
originally a slave. The sovereigns of Persia were in the habit of pur-
chasing young Turks, who were captured by the various frontier tribes in
their mutual struggles, and employing them in their service. They
generally had a body guard formed of them, and many of them were
enfranchised and rose to posts of high influence, and in many cases sup-
planted their masters. The founder of the Khuarezmian power was such
a slave, named Nushtekin, in the service of the Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah.
He rose to the position of a Teshtedar or chamberlain, which carried
with it the government of the province of Khuarezm, that is of the fertile
valley of the Oxus and the wide steppes on either side of. it, bounded on
the west by the Caspian and on the east by Bukharia. He was
succeeded by his son Kutb-ud-din Muhammed, whose services to the
Seljuk rulers, Barkiarok and Sandjar, obtained for him the title of
Khuarezm Shah, a title which was borne by the rulers of that province
before the Arab invasion. He was succeeded by his son Atsiz, who
several times took up arms against his sovereign Sandjar, and became
virtually independent of him. He was ruler of Khuarezm when Yeliu
Tashi, the founder of Kara Khitai, entered his dominion, and having
been defeated by him he was obliged to become his tributary. He was
succeeded in 1156 by his son lyal Arslan, who, on Sandjar's death in
1 157, conquered the western part -of Khorassan. He left two sons named
Takish and Sultan Shah, between whom a Jong struggle ensued.*
Takish was eventually victorious. He also conquered the Seljuk ruler
Togrul, and sent his head to the Khalif at Bagdad. By this conquest
Irak Adjem was added to his dominions. With the deaths of Togrul
and Sandjar, the Seljuk dynasty in Persia came to an end, and Takish
obtained the investiture of their states from the Khalif. Takish was
succeeded in 1200 by his son Alai ud din Muhammed, who by the con-
quest of Balkh and Herat completed the subjection of Khorassan to the
Khuarezmian empire. Shortly after Mazanderan and Kirman were
reduced to obedience. He then broke off his allegiance to the ruler of
Kara Khitai, whose dependent in Transoxiana, named Osman, became
his man. He also conquered a portion of Turkestan as far as Uzkend,
where he placed a garrison. Some time after, having quarrelled with
Osman, the ruler of Transoxiana, who had become his son-in-law, he
attacked and took him prisoner, and afterwards put him to death. He
then appropriated his dominions and made Samarkand his capital. In
I2ijp»i3 he annexed the principality of Gur, and three years later atUcked

* Erdinann't Tcmttjio, 138 and 160.

8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

and subdued the country of Ghazni. When he captured its chief town
he discovered proofs that the Khalif had been intriguing against him. He
accordingly determined to depose him. He marched a large army west-
wards. On his way he received the submission of the rulers of Azer-
baidjan and Fars, and at length entered the dominions of the Khalif,
which at this time were limited to the provinces of Irak Arab and
Khuzistan. Muhammed occupied the former province, and proceeded to
divide it into various military fiefs ; but this was the extent of his
aggression in this direction. A terrible snowstorm overtook his troops on
the mountains of Essed abad, and after losing many of them the rest
were attacked by the Turkish and Kurdish tribes and suffered terribly, a
fate which popular superstition naturally assigned as the result of so
unholy a war. Muhammed deemed it prudent to retire, and his retreat
was probably hastened by the approach of the Mongols. He gave Irak
Ajem as an appanage to his son Rokn ud din. The provinces of
Kirman, Kesh, and Mukran were assigned to Ghiaz ud din ; Ghazni,
Basinan, Gur, Bort, &c., which formed the old Gur empire, were assigned
to Jelal ud din ; while his youngest son, whom he had fixed upon as his
heir, was assigned Khuarezm, Khorasan, and Mazanderan. From this
enumeration it may be gathered that Muhammed was a very powerful
sovereign. He controlled an army of 400,000 men, and his dominions at
the invasion of the Mongols stretched from the Jaxartes to the Persian
Gulf, and from the Indus to Irak Arab and Azerbaidjan. Here also, as
in the case of Kara Kliital, we can see how the work was prepared for
the hands of Jingis by the consolidation of a great number of small states
into one powerful one, on whose fall a vast empire was at once added to
the Mongol dominions.

AZERBAIDJAN. — I have mentioned that Azerbaidjan and Fars were
not actually subject to the Khuarezm Shah but only tributary. The
former was ruled at the time of the Mongol invasion by the Atabeg
Uzbeg. He was descended from Ildeguiz, who, like the founder of many
of the petty dynasties of Southern Asia, was a Turkish slave, and
belonged to the Seljuk Sultan of Irak Ajem. He was a native of
Kipchak, and having been freed rose successively to the highest dignities
in the kingdom, and in 1146 received as a fief the provinces of
Azerbaidjan and Arran, which were separated from one another by the
river Kur. When about forty years later the Seljuk dynasty of Irak
came to an end, Azerbaidjan remained subject to the family of Ildeguiz.
His fifth successor was the Uzbeg 1 have mentioned. He had
succeeded to power in 1197, and had about 1216 acknowledged himself
as the vassal of the Khuarezm Shah. At the time of the Mongol
invasion he was an old man. His capital was Tabriz.*

* D'Obsson* i. xgx and 323.

FARS— LURISTAN—INDIA. 9

FARS was ruled over by the dynasty of the Salgarids, so named from
its founder Salgar, who was the chief of a Turkish tribe and a vassal of
the Scljuki. Sankor, the grandson of Salgar, had profited by the decay
of the Seljuki to take possession of Fars. This was in 1 148. Sankor's
grandson was named S^. It was to him the Sheikh Sadde dedicated
his Gulistan. He became a vassal of the Khuarezm Shah Muhanuned,
and it was he who subsequently submitted to the Mongols.* The capital
of Fars, which was the kernel of the old Persian monarchy, and whose
name still points to its having been so, was Shiraz. A small portion of
Fars, with its capital at Darabsherd, was subject to the dynasty of the
Shebankyare of the family Fasluye, but they were of small interest. An
account of them may be seen in Von Hammer's history of the Ilkhans,
168,69.

LURISTAN. — Luristan, according to Von Hammer, derives its name
from two brothers of the name of Lur or Lor, who in the third century
of the Hejira ruled over certain nomade Kurdish tribes, which two
centuries later migrated from the mountain Saumal in Northern Syria,
and settled in Luristan.t Luristan was divided into two principalities,
known as Great and Little Luristan. The rulers of the former were
known as the Great Atabegs, and those of the latter as the Little Atabcgs.
Hazerasp was the Atabeg of Great Luristan at the invasion of Jingis
Khan. He was a trusted friend of the Khuarezm Shah Muhammed. At
the time of Khulagu's invasion of Western Persia his son Tikle or Tdgucle
was the ruler of Great Luristan. He joined the Mongols with a con-
tingent when they marched upon Baghdad, but they aftcrA\ards grew
suspicious of him, and he was put to death, and Khulagii put Shems ud
din Alp Argun on the throne in his place. At the same period Little
Luristan was ruled by Bedr ud din Massud, who conciHated and was
supported by the Mongols. t

INDIA. — At the date of the Mongol invasion the metropolitan throne
of Delhi was occupied by a dynasty descended from Sultan Kutb ud din
Ibak i Shil, who was a Turkish slave in the service of the Sultan i Ghazi,
Muizz ud din Muhanmied, son of Sam, whence the dynasty was known
as that of the Muizziah Sultans. He became the deputy of the Sultans
of Ghazni in India, where he gained many victories. He was at length
made free and granted the title of Sultan. This was about the year 603
of the Hejira- On his death, four years later, he was succeeded by
Aram Shah, who after a very short reign was displaced by a usurper
named Shams ud din lyal timish, a former slave of Kutb ud din's, and
ako his son-in-law. The Indian empire was then divided into four sec-
tions. Shams ud din possessed himself of Delhi and the country around ;
Nasir ud din kaba jah, another son-in-law of Kutb ud din, appropriated

* D*Oh8Mn, i. 191. Note. iii. 261. t Von Hammer's Ilkhaas, i. 70.

I D'Ohsson, iii. 259-261. Von Hammer's Ilkhans, i. 71, jz,

B

10 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Sind and Multan, Bhakar and Siwastan, and subsequently the territory
to the north-east as far as Sursuti and Kuhram. The chiefs of the
Kalladjes or Turks assumed independence in Bengal, while Lahore
became the prey of its several neighbours.* Such was the position of
affairs when the Mongols appeared on the Indus. Let us now travel
considerably westwards beyond the limits of the Khuarezmian empire.

BAGHDAD.— Irak Arab and a large portion of Khuzestan were
directly subject to the Khalifs. Besides this local authority they were
the supreme heads of the Moslem faith, and held the highest post in the
hierarchy of Islam, in direct descent from the prophet himself. They
were acknowledged as their suzerains by the various chiefs of Asia who
had been converted, and when they succeeded to their several dignities of
Sultan, or Malik, or Atabeg, they sent to notify the fact to the Khalifs,
who in turn invested them with authority and sent them the diploma of
office and the various emblems of royal dignity.t They held their court
at Baghdad. For six centuries the Khalifate had been in the possession
of the family of the Abbasides, so named because they were descended
from Abbas, the uncle of Muhammed. They displaced the Ommiades.
" From an obscure residence in Syria,'* says Gibbon, " they secretly dis-
patched their agents and missionaries, who preached in the eastern
provinces their hereditary indefeasible right, and Muhammed, the son of
Ali, the son of Abdallah, the son of Abbas, the uncle of the prophet,
gave audience to the deputies of Khorassan, and accepted their free gift
of 400,000 pieces of gold.''| The Ommiades were distinguished by their
white garments, the Abassides by their black ones. It was Suffah, the
son of Muhammed ben Ali, who finally vanquished Mervan, the
fourteenth and last of the Ommiade Khalifs. This was in 750 A.D.§
Almansor, the brother of Salah, laid the foundations of Baghdad in
762 A.D., which became the capital of the Moslem world. The rule of
the Abassides was a protracted one, and lasted until they were finally
destroyed by the Mongols, as I shall describe in the following pages, but
for a long period their authority was chiefly spiritual, and the reins of
power were in the hands of the several dynasties who ruled in Persia,
the Buyeds, the Sultans of Ghazni, the Seljukian Turks, and the
Khuarezmians. More or less dependent upon the Khalifs were several
small districts governed by various dynasties of Atabegs, a name which
answers to Mayors of the Palace or Tutors, and which was granted in
the earty days of the Arabian prosperity to various provincial governors,
who retained this title when they became independent princes. Among
these the chief was

MOSUL. — At the time of Khulagu's invasion its ruler was Bedr ud din

Tabakat i Naiiri and Raverty's note, 529, 560. t D'Ohsion, iii* xogt I Op. dt., vi. 390.

$ /rf., vi., 39a.

EGYPT. 1 1

Lulu, who had been a slave of Nur ud din Arslan Shah, of the dynasty of
the Sunkars, chiefs of Diar Bekr, who on his death appointed him Tutor
(Atabeg) to his son Massud, with the government of the principality of
Mosul. On the death of Massud in 121 8, and of his two young sons
who followed him to the grave within the next two years, Bedr ud din
Lulu became independent sovereign of Mosul, and was sovereign of it
thirty-seven years later when Khulagu invaded the country.* Besides
Mosul there were other petty principalities feudally dependent on the
Khalifs. At Diarbekr and Mardin were small dynasties of the family of
the Bcni Ortok, descended from a Turkoman chief named Ortok, who
was in the service of the Seljuki, and under them had possession of
Jerusalem.^ Other small dynasties dependent on the Khalif ruled at
Erbil and Sindshar.

\Vc will now go farther west again towards Egypt and Syria.

EGYPT was at the time of the Mongol invasion subject to the Beni
Ayub or Ayubits, who were made famous in history by the exploits of
their great chief Saladin. They were descended from the Malek Ayub,
son of Shadi, who was a Kurdish chief. Shadi left two sons, Najm ud
dm Ayub and Asad ud din Sher i koh. Ayub's third son was the
famous Salah ud din, generally known as, Saladin, who, having
been appointed Vizier to Nur ud din, the niler of Egypt, succeeded on
the death of that prince in usurping the throne of Egypt.J In the
sonorous words of Gibbon, " He despoiled the Christians of Jerusalem,
and the Atabegs of Damascus, Aleppo, and Diarbekr. Mecca and
Medina acknowledged him for their temporal protection. His brother
subdued the distant regions of Yemen, or the happy Arabia ; and at the
time of his death his empire was spread from the African Tripoli to the
Tigris, and from the Indian Ocean to the mountains of Armenia."! On
his death, in 1193, he was succeeded in Egypt by his son Aziz. Aziz
was succeeded by Adil, the brother of Saladin, about the year 1200. Adil
was succeeded by his son Kamil, who was the greatest of the family
after Saladin, and ruled over the greater part, if not all, the dominions of
that conqueror. He died in 1239, and was succeeded by his son Salih.
Saladin had a body guard of Kurdish slaves, who were known as
Mameluks. Salih especially favoured these Mameluks, who from
having their barracks on the river (Bahr) were known as Bahrits. Salih
died in 1249 at Mansura, while St. Louis was at Damietta. His son
Muazzam Turanshah was assassinated by his father's Mameluks. After
which they swore allegiance to a widow of Salih's named Shejer ud din,
and having raised one of their chiefs named Eibeg to the command of
the army, he married the Sultana, who three months later resigned the

• D'Ohsson, iii. 258. t Von Hammer's Ilkhans, i. 73. Gibbon, vii. 177.

I The Tabaluit in Natiri, 207, &c. $ Op, cit., vii. 255.

12 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

crown to him. He thus became the founder of the first Mameluk
dynasty, namely, of that of the Bahrits. This was in 1250.*

SYRIA. — Saladin was succeeded in Syria, whose capital was

Damascus, by his eldest son Afzal. He was displaced by his brother Aziz,

the Sultan of Egypt, who appropriated his territory, and ^who was

succeeded, as I have said, by his uncle Adil. On Adil's death Syria

became the portion of his second son Muazzam. On whose death in

1230 the throne of Damascus fell to his son Nassir. Nassir was deprived

the following year by his uncle Kamil, the ruler of Egypt, who appointed

his own brother Ashraf to the government of Syria. Ashraf was the

ruler of Syria when the Mongols appeared on its borders in pursuit of

the Khuarezm Shah Jelal ud din Muhammed. After some years the

throne of Damascus was appropriated by Ashraf's nephew Salih, the

Sultan of Egypt. On the assassination of Salih's son Turanshah by the

Mameluks, Nassir Saladin Yusuf, the prince of Aleppo, seized the

throne. Although he was master of Syria from the Euphrates to the

borders of Egypt, there were several petty princes within its borders who

before his aggrandisement were doubtless his peers, and who belonged to

the Ayubit family. Among these was first, the prince of Hims, who at the

time of Khulagu's invasion was named Ashraf, he was the grandson of the

Melik Esed ud din Shirkuh. He had been deprived of his principality

by Nassir about 1248, and had been given in exchange the district of

Telbashir.t Ashraf was reinstated by the Mongols, and became their

deputy in Syria. Secondly, The princes of Hamath, who were descended

from Tayeddin, the grandson of Ayub and the nephew of the great

Saladin, by whom he was appointed Lord of Hamath. His son Melik

Mansur the First gained considerable renown in the war with the

Crusaders, and by his patronage of the learned. He was succeeded by

his son Mansur the Second, who when Khulagu approached Syria fled to

Eg>'pt.t Thirdly, The princes of Karak and Shubek. They were

descended from the Melik Aadil* Seifeddin Ebubekr, who was given this

appanage by his brother the great Saladin. His great grandson Melik

Moghis Fetheddin Omar ruled over it at the invasion of Khulagu. §

Besides their possessions in Syria, the Ayubits still retained a small

portion of Saladin's dominions in Mesopotamia. This consisted of the

principality of Mayafarkin. It was governed by a dynasty descended

from Melikol Aadil, the brother of Saladin. At the time of Khulagu's

invasion it was subject to the Melik Kamil, who was its fifth ruler. He

was killed by the Mongols. ||

* D'Ohsson, iii. 287-290.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 326. Von Hammer's Ilkhans, i. 74, 75.

I Von Hammer'3 Ilkhana, i. 74. D'Ohsson, iii. 322.

§ Von Hammer's Ilkhans, i. 75. D'Ohsson, iii. 292.
B Von Hammer, op. cit., i. 74. . D'Ohsson, iii. 354-357.

CRUSADERS— RUM—LITTLE ARMENIA. 1 3

THE CRUSADERS.— While the greater part of Syria was in the hands
of the Ayubits the Christians retained a few places on the coast. Saladin
had taken Jerusalem from them in 1187, but they held Acre or Polemais
which had been conquered by Philip Augustus of France and Richard the
First of England about 1191. They also held Tyre, Ca^sarca, and
Tripoli on the coast of Syria.*

RUM. — At the time of the great Mongol invasion the empire of the
Seljuki in Persia and Khorassan had been extinguished and replaced by
that of the Khuarezm Shahs. The Seljuki, however, still retained their
hold upon Asia Minor. The dynasty of the Seljuki of Rum or Asia
Minor was founded by Soliman Shah, a cousin of Malik Shah, the ruler
of Persia, by whom he was sent westwards at the head of 80,000 tents of
Ghuz Turks or Turkomans, from Transoxiana, to conquer the country
He conquered the central part of Asia Minor from the Byzantines, and
made Nicica, the chief town of the ancient Bithynia, his capital. His
dominions were called Rum by Eastern writers, and were bounded on
the east by Great Armenia and a part of Georgia, on the north by the
Black Sea, on the south by Little Armenia, a part of Cilitia, and the sea
opposite Cyprus ; and on the west extended as far as Attalia on the sea.
It included theancient Lycaonia, Cappadocia, Isauria, Phrygia, Bithynia,
Paphlagonia, Lydia, and the country round Trebizond. Soliman died in
1086, after reducing Antioch and its dependent cities. It was these
Seljukian Turks with whom the early Crusaders came in contact. In
1096 they captured their capital Nicaea, and so broke their power that
the Greek Emperor recovered much ground which had been lost, and
occupied the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Sardis, Nica;a, &c., and cut the
Turks off from the sea. It was then that they chose the remote and
almost inaccessible Iconium as their capital. The seventh successor of
Soliman, named Kai Kobad, occupied the throne of Iconium when the
Mongols in 1235-7 made their first raid upon the kingdom of Rum ; but
it was in the reign of his successor, Ghiath ud din Kai Khosru, and in
1242, that they made a vigorous effort, under the command of Baiju
to conquer it, and in fact succeeded in making it tributary .f

LITTLE ARMENIA.— To the south of the Seljukian kingdom of
Rimi, and protected by the Taurus mountains, was a small state which
had considerable intercourse with the Mongols. This was known as
Little Armenia. It comprehended the ancient districts of Cilicia and
Comagene, with many towns of Cappadocia and Isauria. Its capital
was Sis. It originated with Rupen, a relative of Kakig the Second,
the last king of Armenia proper, of the race of the Bagratids. When
their power was finally destroyed, he in 1080 occupied some districts in
Cilicia, where many Armenians had sought refuge from the sword of th^

* PeUs die la CtoU, Jingis Khan, ly. t D^Ohssoo, ili, 78-8?.

1 6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

captured the fortress of Alamut from the Seljuki. He afterwards con-
quered the surrounding district, which was named Rudbar, and planted
several fortresses there as well as in Kuhistan. The weakness of the
later Seljuki enabled the Ismailites to increase their power, which was
much augmented by the terrible secret assassinations which Hassan
secured. Hassan died in 1 124, after living for thirty-four years at Alamut,
which he only left twice, spending his time there in meditation, &c. He
was followed by Kia Buzurk Umid, whom he nominated as his successor.
The power of the Assassins continued to increase, and two of the
Abassidan Khalifs were victims of their fanaticism. Kia Burzurk was
succeeded by his son Muhammed, and he by his son Hassan. Hitherto
the Ismailite chiefs had merely called themselves the missionaries
or champions of the Imams, that is, of the Fatimite Khalifs. Hassan in
1 164 proclaimed himself the vicar of the Invisible Imam, and broke
away entirely from his allegiance to the traditions of the Shias.
Thenceforward the Ismailites were known as Molahids {i.e., the lost).
He introduced a great deal of new mystical teaching. Having; been
assassinated by his brother, he was succeeded by his son Muhammed,
who, on the destruction of the Fatimites in Egypt] by Saladin, acquired
fresh renown, and terribly punished the orthodox Mussulmans who dared
to denounce his followers as heretics. Muhammed was succeeded by his
son Jelal ud din Hassan, who professed the orthodox faith and submitted
to the Khalif. When Jino^is Khan passed the Oxus he sent him his sub-
mission. Jelal ud din was succeeded in 1221 by his son Alai ud din
Muhammud, who was only nine years old when he succeeded. He was
himself assassinated in 1255, and was succeeded by his son Rokn ud din
Khurshah, with whom Khulagu fought, and who eventually destroyed him.
Among the chief fortresses of the Ismailites were Alamut, Lemsher (also
written Lemhesser), Guirdkuh Lai, and Meimun-diz.*

THE KIPCHAKS. — Having glanced at the various kingdoms with
which Jingis Khan and his successors came into conflict in Asia, we may
now take a rapid survey of the nomadic tribes whom they conquered and
who formed such an important element in their armies, and we may
begin with the most western. The Kipchaks, according to Raschid and
Abulghazi, were one of the five sections into which the Turkish nation
subject to Oghuz Khan was divided. Abulghazi tells us a curious story
about the origin of their name. He says that at the time when Oghuz
Khan lived it was customary for great chiefs and some of their greater fol-
lowers to take their wives with them on their expeditions. On one occasion
one of these chiefs having been killed in a combat, his wife escaped and
joined the camp of Oghuz Khan. She was then great with child, and
being suddenly taken ill where there was no hut, and when the weather

• D'Ohsson, iii. 141-203.

THE KIPCHAKS. l^

was very severe, she took refuge in a hole in a tree, where she gave birth
to a son. Oghuz Khan adopted the boy, his father having died in his
service, and gave him the name of Kiptchak, which he says in the
old Turk language meant a hollow tree. When the boy reached
the age of maturity Oghuz Khan sent him with a considerable force
towards the Don and Volga. He subdued the country, and from him
were descended the Kipchaks who inhabited the steppes there and who
gave them their name of Desht Kipchak, or the Plains of Kipchak.* I
am disposed to attach credit to the principal features of this story.
Kipchak is a personal name among the Turks, and it is a very common
practice for Turkish tribes to be named after noted chiefs, ex. gr,, the
Uzbegs, Nogays, &c. The Kipchaks were called Comans by European
writers. This we know not only from a comparison of the statements
we have about both races, and from the fact that both races occupied the
same area at the same time, but we are expressly told that the Comans
called themselves Capchat. The name Coman is derived no doubt from
the river Kuma, the country about which was known to the Persians as
Kumestan, and to the Nubian geographer Edrisi in the eleventh century
as Al Komania ; he adds, ** which gives their name to the Komanians."t
Klaproth has published a Comanian vocabulary and other evidence
showing the Comanians to have spoken a very pure Turk language.
A part of their old country on the Kuma is still called Desht Kipchak,
and the Kumuks, who have been pushed somewhat south by the Nogays,
are, I believe, their lineal descendants. Others of their descendants no
doubt remain also among the Krim Tatars. To the early Arab writers
the Kipchaks were known as Gusses, a name by which we also meet with
them in the Byzantine annals.} This shows that they belonged to the
great section of the Turks known as the Gusses or Oghuz Turks, whose
eponymous hero was Oghuz Khan. They first invaded the country west
of the Volga at the end of the ninth century, from which time till their
final dispersal by the Mongols in the thirteenth century they were very
persistent enemies of Russia. After the Mongol conquest it is very
probable that they became an important element in the various tribes
that made up the Golden Horde or Khanate of Kipchak. As I
have said, they were called Gusses by the Arabs. This connects them
very closely with the Turks who ravaged Persia so terribly in the
eleventh century, and to whom the Seljuki and Ottomans affiUated them-
selves, both tribes deriving themselves from the Gusses. They also
formed a large part of the nomades who are known as Turkomans. The
original homeland of all these tribes was doubtless the land where the
Middle Horde of the Kirghiz Kazaks now lived. The Kazaks were also
Gusses, and in fact n main a type of what the other Gusses probably were

* Abulghazi, Ed. De«m., i8, 79.
t Vi4€ Author'i Paiper on the Comani wd PetchenecB, Tnms, fithnoloc. Soc., ii. 84. I !*>

C

1 8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

before they were sophisticated by conUct with the Persians. One of the
main divisions of the Middle Horde and a tribe of the Uzbegs are still
called Kipchak, and in the country of the Middle Horde may be found a
town Kapchak and a lake Kapchi.*

THE KANKALIS.— East of the Yaik, in the wide steppe lands now
occupied by the Kirghiz Kazaks of the Little Horde, lived the Kankalis.
Like their western neighbours, the Kipchaks, they also formed one of the
five sections into which the subjects of Ughuz Khan were divided. In
later times they were very closely connected with the Kipchaks, as may be
collected from the fact that one of the four main divisions of the Uzbegs
is called Kankli-Kipchak. But at an earlier date their histories
ran in separate channels. They are called Kangli by Rubruquis, who
tells us he crossed their country after passing the Volga, or rather the
Yaik. Carpini calls them Kangites, and Constantine Porphyrogenitus
Kangar. According to Raschid and Abulghazi their name is derived
from the use of wheeled carriages or arabas, kanek meaning wheels.t
The Emperor Constantine identifies them with the Pechenegs,} and this
is confirmed by the statement of Abulfeda, who, citing Ebn Said, says
that eastward of Comania were the mountains, the lake, and the capital
of the Begjnak, who were Turks.§ Now the country of the Pechenegs
and Kankalis was until the seventeenth century the camping ground of
the Nogays, who seem from the researches of Levchine to have
extended as far as the river Sarisu, which divided them from the Kazaks.
We are not surprised to find, therefore, the name Kangli surviving
among the Nogays, who are still distinguished as their ancestors were by
the use of wheeled cars or arabas, and there are few things more certain
than that the Kankalis are now represented by the Nogays. Besides the
Nogays there are no doubt many Turkomans also descended from them.
According to Abulghazi the Kankalis at the accession of Jingis occupied
the country as far east as the valleys of the Chu and the Taras.|| In the
time of Jingis the Kankalis were very closely connected with Khuarezm.
The Khuarezm Shah Takish, the father of Muhammed, the great rival of
Jingis, married Turkan Khatun, the daughter of Jinkeshi Khan, of the
tribe Bayaut, which, according to Muhammed of Nessa, was a branch of
the Y6meks, who D'Ohsson says were comprised in the general name of
Kankalis.^ He was apparently a person of very great consequence, and
probably the paramount chief among them.** In the wake of Turkan
Khatun many Kankalis embraced Islamism and entered the service of
Muhammed. Abulghazi says all her nearest relatives thus went. Among

* The Comaos and the Petchenegs, op. cit. 88. t Abulghaci, Ed. Desm., 17.

I Essay on Com ns and Petchenegs, op. cit., gi. S Davexac, 500. Note.

I Op. cit., Ed. Desm., 38. ^ Op. cit., \. 196, 197.

** In the Tabakat i Nasiri he is called in one place Ikran or Akran Khan of Kipchak, and

in another Kadr Khaa of Kipcbak, « confusion of namfs »nd of titles which lafUces one discard

its Atttbority.

THE KARLUKS— ALMALIOH. 19

these there are named her eldest brother Khumar Tekin, who was
appointed Darugha, />., governor of Urgendj. There also went Inaljek,
the son of her father's younger brother ; he became a Mussulman, and
was appointed governor of Turkestan, and Muhammed ordered that he
was in future to be no longer styled Inaljek but Ghair Khan (? a form of
Gur Khan). Another chief named Kuk, one of the principal men
among the Kankalis, also joined him and was appointed governor of
Bokharah, with the title of Khan ; he was styled Kuk Khan. Altogether,
says Abulghazi, there were 50,000 or 60,000 Kankalis who entered the
service of the Khuarezm Shah ; 10,000 families of them remained on
the Chui and Telash (? Taras), but on the arrival of Jingis Khan those who
hved on the Telash were dispersed,* while those in the service of the
Khuarezm Shah were terribly punished in the ensuing campaign. As
I have said, their descendants still constitute the main portion of the
Nogay Hordes.

THE KARLUKS.—Like the Kankalis, the Karluks were dependents of
the Gur Khans of Kara Khitai. They also formed a section of the subjects
of Oghur Khan. Their name, according to Raschid, means the men of
the snows or snow lords.t Abulghazi says they inhabited the mountains
of Mongolia, and that they were not a numerous race, and adds that the
number of their famihes did not, at the most flourishing period of their
history, exceed 2,000 families. The accounts of the Karluks, as given
by Juveni and Raschid, are not quite consistent. According to one
account Ahnaligh was their chief town,J while Juveni makes it the seat
of another Turkish prince. I have small doubt that Juveni is right, and
he is confirmed by Abulghazi. According to his account, when Jingis
Khan returned from his campaign against Tangut in 121 1, Arslan Khan
of the Karluks, who was also Prince of Kayalik or Kabalik, and who
had broken off his allegiance to the Gur Khan of Kara Khitai, submitted
to him, and he gave him a Mongol princess in marriage.} It was
ordered also that Arslan should no longer be styled Arslan Khan but
Arslan Siriaki, or Arslan the Syrian, that is, the Muhammedan.|| He
accompanied Jingis Khan iii his campaign against the Khuarezm
Shah.^

ALMALIGH.— In the tenth and eleventh centuries the Turics of
Turkestan were dominated over by a Grand Khan, who had his seat of
empire at Kashgar, and who ruled from the borders of China to those of
the Jaxartes. His power seems to have decayed and to have been much
invaded by the Kankalis and Karluks, and he at last submitted to the
Gur Khan of Kara Khitai, whose dependent he became. When Gushluk
usurped the throne of Kara Khitai the Khan of Almaligh and Fulad was

* Abulghaxi, Ed. Destn., 37, 38. t Erdmann's Extracts, x6.

] Erdmann't Temnjhi, 246. f D'Ohsson, i. xix. | D*OhMon, i. 2x8. Note;

Y Id,, 2xt. Abulghazi, Ed. Detin., xo8.

20 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

called Ozar.* Erdmann, who confuses this dynasty with that in the last
paragraph, calls him Kunas, and says he was knowr as Merdi Shudsha
(«>., lion heart or lion man). This latter statement is probably well
founded, for the Khans of Almaligh are doubtless to be identified with
the Lion Khans of Kashgar mentioned by Visdelou.t It would seem
that Ozar Khan of Almaligh, having refused to acknowledge Gushluk,
the latter marched against him, and having surpri sec. him when hunting
put him to death. Ozar had acknowledged thi supremacy of J ingis
Khan, and on his death his son Siknak Tikin Wc s named his successor
by the Mongol Khan, .vho gave him a daughter oijuji's in marriage.
He also accompanied Jingis in his Eastern campaign.^

THE NAIMANS.— That the Naimans were Turks, as both Klaproth
and D'Ohsson affirm, I have shown in the notes at the end of this
work. According to Raschid they were nomades. Some of them
were settled in the district of Sehets. {?) The places where they lived
included Egeh Altai (? Yeke Altai or Great Altai) ; Earakorum,
where Ogotai fixed his residence ; the mountains Alwi Sepras (called
Elui Seras by D'Ohsson), and Gul Irtish, where the Kankalis also
lived ; the Irtish Muran, a branch of the Irtish (by which probably
the Black Irtish is meant) ; the surrounding mountains and districts as
far as the country of the Kirghises on one side, and that of the Uighurs
on the other.§ That is, it included the whole of Northern Sungaria
from near lake Saissan to Karakorum. It is important to remember that
Raschid makes Karakorum, which afterwards became the capital of
Ogotai, a chief camping ground of the Naimans. The reading is con-
firmed by Abulghazi, who says that they had their chief camping ground
in the district called Karakorum in Mongolia ;|| and in a very independent
authority, namely, a map of the north-western frontiers of China at the
Mongol period, contained in the Hai kue thu chi, a Chinese work on
universal historical geography, we are told Holin {t\e., the Chinese
name for Karakorum) was situated between the Orkhon and the Timur,
and it is added that the Naimans had formerly thtir principal camp there.^
Abulghazi says he knew nothing of the former history of the Naimans
except that they had a king named Karkish, who left his dominions to his
son Inat.** At a later date they were ruled over by landj Belgeh Buka
Khan, who divided his kingdom between his sons Taibuka and Buyuruk
Khan. Taibuka retained possession of his father's residence, />., Kara-
korum, while Buyuruk went to live at Kizilbashi {? the Kizilbash lake),
near the Altai .tt At the end of his description of the Naimans, Raschid
mentions a people whom he calls Tigin, whose chief was called Kader

• D'Ohsson, i, 170.

t Supplement to D*Herbelot*s Bib. Orien.,305. I D'Ohsson, i. 212. Abulghazi, Ed. Desm., i»8.

i Erdmann's Extracts from Raschid, 142. Temujin, 239.

I Op. cit., Ed. Desm., 47. if Pauthier's Marco Polo, i. xxxviii.

•• Op. dt., Ed. Desm., 47. tt Erdmann, Temujin, 271, and Note 80.

THE UIGHURS. 21

Buyuruk Khan, and who lived in close alliance with the Naimans. In
regard to these names, Tigin seems to be a form of the Turkish title
Tikin, while Kader is explained by Raschid as meaning mighty or strong.
It is clearly the Kadr which occurs so frequently as the title of the
Turkish Khans of Turkestan. It is a Turkish title, and Raschid
expressly says it was a name not used by the Mongols, who pronounced
it Kadsher.* He also mentions another tribe, which he names Tebgi.
D'Ohsson writes the name Sikin biki, he says it was closely
connected with the Onguts although it lived with the Naimans. The
women of the Naimans and of this latter tribe were famed for their
beauty .t I know nothing of these two tribes beyond the facts mentioned
by Raschid.

THE UIGHURS.—The Uighurs were undoubtedly Turks.f They
were known to the Chinese as Hoei-hu. In the second half of the eighth
century and beginning of the ninth the Uighurs were all-powerful in
Eastern Asia, and had their capital at Karakorum. Their princes
entered into matrimonial alliances with the Chinese Emperor, and they
seem to have occupied all the western part of Mongolia, from Karakorum
to the country of the Ortus. Like the power of most Turkish con-
federacies, however, theirs was not very long lived. Their possessions in
the south were overrun and occupied by the Thibetans, and in the north
they were much harrassed by their western neighbours the Hakas, a
name which I have elsewhere connected with Oghuz.§ The latter at
length, in 840, marched against them at the head of 100,000 horsemen,
defeated and captured their Khan Khaisa, whose head they cut off.
After this defeat a large number of the Uighurs dispersed, many of them
seeking refuge on the borders of Shensi, where they nominated Uhi as
their Khan. At length in the year 848 they were finally dispersed, many
of their hordes fled to the countries of Sha Chau and Kua chau.ll The
Hakas, who supplanted them and occupied their capital Karakorum,
were, as I believe, the direct ancestors of the Naimans, who were
encamped there at the accession of Jingis. It was these disasters which
led to the Uighurs migrating and settling largely in an old Turk land,
namely, on the eastern spurs of the Thian Shan mountains. Their
principal, seat was Bishbalik (the five towns), which Klaproth has shown
to be identical with Urumtzi. On the north they extended as far as the
river Achu, on the south they had the Chinese principality of Thsiau
thsiuan kiun (the present country of Su chau), on the east they bordered
upon Gundun Gachikia (Visdelou reads it Yuen tun Kia cha), and on the
west upon the Sifans or Thibetans.^! Nestorian Christianity was widely
spread among them, as we learn from many Eastern travellers. And it

• Erdmann'8 Extracts from Raschid. 147. Note. t Id. 147, D'Ohssor. 1. 56 Note

; See Notes at the end of this Volume. I Geographical Uagazine. ii. 150.

J Klaproth, Tableaux Historiques, 128, 129. T D'Ohsson, i. 440.

22 HISTORV OF THE MONGOLS.

was from the Nestorians they doubtless derived their alphabet, which is
founded on the S>Tiac. They taught letters to the Mongols, and were in
early times the most cultivated race of Eastern Asia. Like the other
Turks of the Thian Shan range, the Uighurs submitted to the Gur
Khans of Kara Khitai. Their ruler was entitled Idikut, and he became
their tributary, having a deputy of the Gur Khans in his territory.
When the star of Jingis rose the Idikut broke off his allegiance to
the Kara Khitai and became the protege of Jingis, who gave him his
daughter in marriage. At this time he was named Baurchik, and the
Uighurs continued to be ruled by his family until the Mongols were
driven away from China. The eastern neighbours of the Uighurs were
the Keraits.

THE KERAITS.— In regard to the Keraits I hold very heretical
views. They have been almost, if not quite, universally treated as
Mongols. I believe, on the contrary, that they were Turks, and have
given my reasons at some length in the notes at the end of this volume.
The history of the Keraits and of Prester John, their celebrated sovereign,
is given in detail in the tenth chapter, where the question as to their
habitat has been fully discussed, and it has been shown to correspond to
the frontier districts of the Ordus country and the neighbourhood Of
Koko Khotan.

THE MERKITS.— The country of the Merkits or Mecrits is well
defined by more than one author. Thus Marco Polo says, when you leave
Karakorum and the Altai, and you go north for forty days, you reach the
country called the plain of Bargu. The people there are called Mescript*
Raschid tells us the Merkits were called Mekrits by one sedtion of the
Mongols. He says they were also known by the common name of Udut
or Uduyut. In another place he says one of their tribes was called
the Udut Merkits. This name of Udut Klaproth connects with great
probability with the river Uda, a western feeder of the Selinga.t In
1 197 Jingis Khan marched against the Merkits, and we are told he
encountered and defeated the Udut Merkits near the river Mondja, in
the canton Karas Muren, beyond the Kerulon and Selinga. Klaproth
adds that this river still bears the name Mandzia. It springs to the
north of the sources of the Onon and Kerulon, in the angle formed
between those rivers by the Bakha Kentei and the Ik6 Kentei. It crosses
the frontier of Siberia at the post Obur khadain ussu, passes near the
fort of Mandzinskoi, called Manzanskoi in Pozniakof's map, and joins
the Chikoi (one of the main feeders of the Selinga) opposite the village
of Manghir Chuiska.t The following year Wang Khan, the Kerait chief,
defeated the Merkits at a place called Buker kehreh, when their chief
Tukta bigi took refuge in the country of Barkuchin.§ Kehreh no doubt

• Yule's Mlno Polo, 2nd Ed., i. t Nouv. Journ. Aritt., xl. 452,

I /rf.. 453. f /<«., 453.

THE KIRGHISES AND KEMKJEMJUKS. 23

means plains, and Buker kehreh is doubtless the plains of Bargu
of Marco Polo, and was situated near the outfall of the Selinga.
After the defeat and death of the Naiman chief Tayang Khan, Jingis
marched against the Merkits, and we are told that the chief of the
Uhuz or Udut Merkits (Erdma^n says the Uighur Merkits) subnutted
voluntarily to him at the river Bar. I notice a town called Borskaya on
an eastern feeder of the lower Selinga. This tribe having afterwards
revolted, Jingis attacked it in a place named Kurukchal, "near the
SeUnga*"* These facts mak;e it almost certain that the Merkits Uved
upon the lower Selinga and its feeders and in the country south-west of
the Baikal Sea* The Merkits have generally been treated as Mongols.
It i^ not improbable that as they were a frontier race they may have
been somewhat mixed with Mongol blood. But I believe this to have
been trifling, and that they were almost as typically Turks as the
Uighurs. The proofs of this I must remit to the notes at the end of the
volume. The ruler of the Merkits in the time of Jingis was Tukta Bigi,
who will appear frequently in the following pages. He had six sons,
namely, Tugim, Tuseh, Kudu, Jilaun (who married a daughter of Wang
Khan of the Keraits), Jiyuk, and Kultukan Mergen, All sue came to a
violent end. Tugun was killed by Wang Khan; Tuseh, Jilaun, and
Jiyuk fell in battle with Jingis Khan; Kudu was put to death when
escaping, while Kultukan was a great archer and fled to Kipchak, where
he was captured and put to death by order of Juji. Kulan the
daughter of Dair Ussun, chief of the Merkits, was married to Jingis
Khan, and she was the mother of his hfth son Kulkan.t

THE KIRGHISES AND KEMKEMJUKS.— The Kirghises and
Kemkemjuks were two closely allied Turkish tribes, who lived in the
time of Jingis on the upper waters of the Yenissei and on the Kemjik. A
place at the embouchure of the Kemjik into the Yenissei, is still known
as Kemkemjik Boru. Boru is merely equivalent to stony mountain or
fell.} Raschid tells they formed two neighbouring nations, their country
was thickly settled, and their kings were called Inal.§ The Chinese
authors who wrote during the Mongol supremacy place them in the
same district, between the lyus, the Ob, and the Yenissei. || They
remained in the same district down to the seventeenth century, when, as
reported by Strahlenberg and other Swedish exiles, they left their old
country and migrated towards lake Saissan and the mountainous country
to the south. Here they are still found, and are known as Buruts, Black
Kirghises, or Rock Kirghises. They are in fact the Kirghises proper,
those frequently so called being in reality Kazaks and not Kirghises.

THE URASUTS, TELENKUTS, AND KESTI MIS. — These
tribes, Raschid says, were also called the wood-folk, and he tells that they

* id,, 454« t ErdmMiii, x86. I KUproth, A8ia/»olyglott«, 231.

I D'OhMODi L Z03* Note. I Kbproth, op, €it.» 233.

24 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

lived in the woods in the country of the Kirghises and Kemkemjuks.*
They were closely bound up with the Kirghises, and were apparently
three sections of one race, as Abulghazi says,t and doubtless also their
descendants are the well-known Telenguts, or white Kalmuks of recent
travellers, who are found scattered in the high country of Northern Sun-
garia. They are otherwise called Teleuts, and their original seat was
apparently the Altan, or Golden lake, otherwise called Telezkoi. Their
physique and looks are very like those of the Mongols, but their speech
is Turkish. Klaproth suggests that they have changed in the latter re-
spect, and that originally they were Mongols. J It is curious that Abul-
ghazi classes the Telenguts among the Uirads, that Ssanang Setzen speaks
of them as the Telengud Uirad, while they are known to the Russians as
White Kalmuks. In regard to the Kcstimis, I may add that several
tribes of Siberian Turks are still ftyled Kitshi, as Kitshi Taidkge, Kitshi
Kurmachi, Kitshi Argun, Kitshi Pushku.§

THE UIRADS, KURIS, TULAS, TUMATS, BARGUTS, AND
KURLUTS were various tribes who lived on the cast and west of
the Baikal Sea, about the feeders of the Angara, and in the dis-
trict known as Barguchin Tugrum. I have now little doubt that they
were Mongols, and were the ancestors of the Western Mongols or Kal-
muks. I have entered into the subject fully in the last chapter of this
volume on the Buriats.

THE WILD URIANKUTS.— The name Uriankut, or Uriangkhan,
has given rise to some difficulty. One of the six great divisions of the
Mongols in the time of Dayan Khan was called Uriangkhan. The
tribe which had charge of the burying-place of Jingis was called
Uriankut. The Turks on the Chulim are called Uriangkhai,|| and the
same name is applied by the Chinese to the Southern Samoyedes, who
live about the Kossgol lake. This variety of application is explained
when we find that the name merely means woodmen. If Raschid men-
tions one tribe of Uriangkuts among the Darlegin Mongols, but he
also names a^second tribe, the Wild Uriangkuts. He describes them
as dressing themselves in deerskins ; as keeping neither oxen nor sheep.
He speaks of their living in birch huts ; as using snow shoes, &c., and it
is quite clear that he refers to the Uriangkhai of the Chinese authors —
that is, to the Samoyedes, who still have their headquarters close to the
Mongol country and about lake Kossagol.**

BULGACHINS AND KERMUCHINS.— Raschid merely names
these tribes, and tells us they were neighbours of the Kirghises. They
are probably to be identified with some of the broken tribes of Turks or
Samoyedes who live on the northern flanks of the Sayanian mountains.

• Erdmana's Temujin, 191. f Ed. Desm., 47. J Asia Polyglott«.

f Asia Polyglots, 224. S Klaproth, Asia Polyglotta, 224. f Id,

** Petennaon's Mittbeiluneen, vol. for z86o, p. 90.

THE JELAIRS— SUWEIT AND KABTERUN— THE TARTARS. 25

THE JELAIRS. — We now approach a part of our subject which is
unusually difficult. I have stated in a note at the end of this work my
reasons for making the Jelairs a Turkish tribe and not a Mongol one.
They were divided into ten sections, namely, the Jait, Tukraut (Tak-
raun of D'Ohsson), Kengeksaut (Kungkassaun of D*Ohsson), Kumsaut,
Uyat, Selkan (Bilkassan of D'Ohsson), Kugir, Tulangkit, Buri, and
Shenegkut. During the reign of Jingis Khan the most important chief
of the Jelairs was Mukuli Kiwang, of the section Jait. He commanded the
left wing of the army of Jingis. Kiwang was a Chinese title, meaning
great chief, it was given to him when the Mongols sought refuge at
Karaun Shidun.* This title was inherited by his son Bughul, and his
descendants.t Abulghazi reports of the Jelairs that they were an ancient
tribe, and ver>' numerous, and that on one occasion when they were at
war with the Khitai, they all assembled in one place, and their tents
formed seventy kurens (/>., rings). These rings have been aptly com-
pared to the rings among the ancient Avars. The Jelair tribe consisted
of many uvruks, which were formed into groups, each one with a separate
chief. The greater part of the Jelairs wert encamped on the Onon.f

SUWEIT AND KABTERUN.— These tribes are called Sunit and
Kairun by D'Ohsson. If the reading of the latter be the right one, we
may have their descendants in the well-known tribe of the Sunids, which
belongs to the forty-nine banners. These Sunids are probably a very
old tribe, for they and their chief Kiluken Bahadur are named by Ssanang
Setzcn in his account of Jingis Khan. This makes the identifica-
tion probable. But as the Suweit are not classed with either the Niruns
and Darlegins, />., with the two great sections of the Mongols proper, it
is probable that if they were Mongols they had a distinct history and
traditions, like the Uirads, &c. The Kabtcrun are named by Raschid as
a section of the Suweit.§

THE TARTARS.— I shall remit the discussion of several matters
which suggest themselves on reading the name Tartar to the notes at the
end of the volume, and shall here content myself with a short resume.
The Chinese used the name in a general sense, to include the greater
part of their northern neighbours, and it was in imitation of them pro-
bably that the Europeans applied the name to the various nomade hordes
who controlled Central Asia after the Mongol invasion. But the name
properly belonged, and is applied by Raschid and other Mongol histo-
rians, to certain tribes living in the north-eastern comer of Mongolia,
who, as I believe, were partially, at least, of Tungusic race,I| and whose
descendants are probably to be found among the Solons of Northern
Manchuria. Raschid tells us they consisted of 70,000 families, who lived

* Vide infra. f Erdmann's Temujin, 172-177. D'Ohsson, i. 424.

I Op. cit., Ed. Desm., 6z. § Erdmann's Temujin, i77-i79. D'Ohsson, I. 424.

Vide note at the end of Volume.

26 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

on the borders of China, and had their principal camp at Buyur i\aur,
that is the well-known lake Buyur. They were divided into six tribes,
namely, the Tutukeliuts, AIj. (called Antsi by the Chinese and Ssanang
Setzen), Jaghan, Kuisin (called Kuyin by D'Ohsson), Nezait (the Terat
of D'Ohsson), and Yerkui (the Berkui of D'Ohsson) ; of these the Tutu-
keliuts were the most important, whence a male Tartar was frequently
called Tutukehna, and a female Tuiukeljin.* They fought a good deal
with one another, and as I shall show presently, had a long struggle with
the Mongols, after which they were almost exterminated. Two of Jingis
Khan's wives, namely, Bisulun and Bisugat were Tartars ; they were
sisters. A favourite general of his whom he had adopted as a boy, named
Kutuku Noyan, and who will appear in the following pages, was also a
Tartar.

THE ONGUTS.— The Onguts, of Raschid, were known to the
Chinese as White Tartars. One section of the Tartars above described
was called Jaghan Tartar, />., White Tartars, and it seems pretty certain
that the Onguts were a section of the Tartars proper. We are told that
about the year 880 or 883, Chu ye che sin, otherwise called Li kue chang
(who was of the Turkish race of the Sha to), and his son, Li ke yung,
having been defeated by He lien tho and others, left China, afraid of being
punished, and retired among the Tha che,t and that he re-entered China
followed by the Tha che, and with their help defeated the rebel Hoam
chao. After this he settled with the Tha che between Yun chau and Tai
chau (two towns in the northern part of Shansi).t I have no doubt that
these Tartars, who occur frequently in subsequent history, are the White
Tartars of the days of Jingis. At that time they were in the service of
the Kin Emperors, by whom they were employed to garrison a portion of
the Great Wall, whence their name of Onguts, from Ongu a wall.| Their
chief, at the time of Jingis (according to Raschid), was called Alakush
Tikin Kuri. Alakush is a Turkish proper name, which means a pied
bird ; Tikin is a title borne by chiefs of Turkish tribes. || Gaubil, who
calls him Alausse, says he belonged to the ancient race of Kings of the
Thu kiu,t which exactly agrees with the fact named above, that the
leader who planted the colony of Onguts in Northern Shan si was of the
race of the Sha to Turks, which accounts further for his close connection
with the chid" of the Naimans. I believe the Onguts, then, to have been
a colony of Tartars from Manchuria, governed by a Turkish dynasty.

* Erdmann, Extracts from Raschid, 41, 42.

t This is an alternative form of the name Tartar. J Visdelou, op. cit., 328.

f Raschid, quoted by D'Ohsson, 1, 84. Note. D Id. % Op. cit., 10.

CHAPTER II.
THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS.

THE name Mongol (according to Schmidt) is derived from the
word Mong, meaning brave, daring, bold,* an etymology which
is acquiesced in by Dr. Schott.t Ssanang Setzcn says it was
first given to the race in the time of Jingis Khan,J but it is of much ©Ider
date than his time, as we know from the Chinese accounts, in which we
must be careful, however, to discriminate between it and a very similar
name, Moho, by which the Tungusian tribes of Manchuria were known.§
The earliest mention of the Mongols eo nomine occurs in the official
history of the Thang dynasty (618-907), which was probably written
shortly after the latter date. The name, as there g^ven, is Mongu, and it
is mentioned under the heading Shi wei, as if the Mongu formed a section
of the Shi wei ; II and on turniog to the great Chinese Topographical
Work, Hoan yu ki, written in the years 976-984,*; we find Mongu made a
qualifying adjective to Shi wei ; the Mongu and their neighbours, the
Lotan, being there respectively called the Mongu Shi wei and Lotan Shi
wei.** The Thang dynasty was succeeded in Northern China by the
Khitan, and in the history of that dynasty, written in 1 180 by a Southern
Chinese named Ye lung li, who lived at Kia-hing-fu, in the province of
Che kiang, we have a short description of the tribes to the north-west of
Manchuria, and among these he mentions the tribe of the Mongkuli.
The Khitans were in turn dispossessed by the Kin, or Golden Tartars,
and in a history of their dynasty, entitled Ta-Kin-kuo-chi, we find the
Mongku mentioned with considerable details as to their intercourse
with China.tt These various facts prove that the name Mongol is much
older than the time of Jingis Khan, and was not a name first given to his
subjects by that great conqueror. They point further, as the statements
of Raschid do, to the Mongols having at first been merely one tribe of a
great confederacy, whose name was probably extended to the whole when
the prowess of the Imperial House which governed it gained at the supre-
macy. We learn lastly from them that the generic name by which the

* Ssanang S«tzen, 38*. See also Journ. Asiat., 3, 109.

\ Aeltate Nachrichtefl von Mongolen und Tataren, 5. Note. 1 Op. (St., 71.

S Skholt, op. citi, 6,7. I Schott, op. cit., 18, I9' : % /^.> lOt ^ Id., sn ft Mi i7>

28 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

race was known in early times to the Chinese was Shi wei, the Mongols
having, in fact, been a tribe of the Shi wei. For pointing this out in all
its clearness we are indebted to Schott, in the paper already cited.
Klaproth, in his Tableaux Historiques, makes the Shi wei a Tungusic
race, but in this, I believe, he is mistaken. The Shi wei were known to
the Chinese from the seventh century ; they then consisted of various de-
tached hordes, subject to the Thu kiu, or Turks. They were of the same
origin as the Khitans ; like them they shaved their heads, they used cattle
to draw their carts, and lived in huts covered with mats. Like
the Turks they used felt tents, which could be transported on carts.
They used rafts of inflated skins upon which to cross rivers ; instead of
a felt they put a quantity of grass on their horses backs, which served
them for a saddle, and they used cords for bridles. They slept on pigs'
skins. They used bits of wood arranged in a certain order as a cal-
endar. Their country was very cold. They had no sheep and few
horses, but many pigs and cattle. They prepared a kind of spirit, with
which they intoxicated themselves. The family of the bridegroom paid
the family of the bride a sum of money on her marriage ; widows were
not allowed to re-marry. Mourning was worn for three years for the
richer men. Having no corn in their country they got what they needed
from Corea. The Southern Shi wei were divjded into twenty-five hordes.
Further north there lived the Northern Shi wei, who consisted of
nine tribes ; and whose chiefs bore the title of Ki-in-mo-ho-tu. This
name may be a corruption of " Khan of the Mongols," and I am disposed
. to think that the nine tribes of the Northern Shi wei constituted the
Mongol nation proper subject to the dynasty of the Bordshigs, who were
divided in the time of Jingis into nine military divisions, each one led by
one of the nine Orloks, whence the national standard of the race con-
sisted of a Tuk with tiine white Yak tails.* The country of the
latter was exceedingly cold, and they used sledges there. In the
winter the inhabitants retired to the caverns. They lived on fish, and
made their clothes from fish skins. Sables and their kin were abundant
among them. They wore caps made of the skins of foxes and badgers.
One thousand li further north than the Northern Shi wei lived the Po Shi
wei, near the mountain I hu pu. They were very numerous. Four days'
journey further west lived the Shi wei of the river Shin mo tan.
Several thousand \\ to the north-west lived the Great Shi wei, in a very
mountainous country. Their language differed entirely from that of the
other Shi wei.t Klaproth adds that in the ninth century, during the reign
of the Thang dynasty, the nine hordes of the Northern Shi wei were
called Shi wei west of the mountains (Kliinggan), Northern Shi
wei, Yellow-he%ded Shi wei, the great Ya chi Shi wei, the little

* Schmidt's notes to Ssunang Setzen, op. cit., 379* t Tableaux, &c., 91, 99.

THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS. 29

Yu chi Shi wei, Shi wei of Nu pho wo, Shi wei of Ta mu,
and the Camel Shi wei. These extracts seem to show that the Chinese,
whose ethnography was sometimes very faulty, used the name Shi wei
as they sometimes used the name Tartar, as a generic name for the
tribes of Dauria and its neighbourhood, both Mongols and Manchus.
As I have said, the earliest mention of the name Mongol is in the
Thang shu, or official history of the Thang dynasty. In describing the
Shi wei, it is there stated that the nearest tribes of this race lived
3,000, and the most distant 6,000 or more li to the north-east of
Lieu ching, an old fortified town on the site of the modern Chao ien
hien, in the country of the Eastern Tumeds.* The most westerly of the
race was the tribe U su ku, which lived to the south-west of the Kiu lun
lake, and bordered on the Uighurs (who had their capital at Karakorum).

** To the east of the Kiu lun. lake were the I sai mu, and further east
still, on the north bank of the Chuo, also called the Yen chi, lived
the Sai-hu-chi, a very powerful race." "To the east of these lived
the Hokiai, the Ulohu and the Noli." Directly north of the
tribe Ling-si (Ling-si means merely " West of the Mountain pass "),t
lived the No-pe-chi. An^ north of them, beyond a great mountain,
were the Ta Shi wei, or Great Shi wei, who lived on the banks of
the river Shi ki en. This river flowed from the Kiu lun lake, and
flowed eastwards." The Chinese, whose topography of these parts is not
very profound, confound the Shilka, or Onon, and the Argun, and make
them both spring from the Kiu lun lake. I believe the Shi ki en of the
above account to be, in fact, the Shilka, and the Ta Shi wei, theTaidshigods
or Taidshuts. South of the Shi ki en (/>., of the Onon) lived the tribe
Mongu, and north of it the tribe Lotan. This is not a bad approxima-
tion to the home land of the Mongols, which we know was on the Onon.
Who the Lotan were I don't know.

The next work which mentions the Mongols is the Topographical
Survey, called the Hoan yu ki, which was written in the interval 976-984.?
In this account the Sai hu chi are placed to the south instead of the north
of the river Chuo. The tribe Ulohu, which is also called Ulo, and
Ulo hoen, is placed to the east of the Hokiai, as before, and we are
further told that it lived north of the mountain Mo kai tu (/>., the
Snake Mountain).? This account adds that the Ulohu paid tribute from
the fourth year of Tai ping, of the dynasty Yuan Wei (/>., 443 a.d.) to
the ninth year of Tien pao, of the dynasty Thang, 720 a.d.||

Two hundred li north-east of the Ulo, and on the banks of the No (/>.,
the Nonni), lived the remnants of the Uhuan, who had been dispersed by
the Hiong nu. They paid tribute under the first two Emperors of the
Thang dynasty. " North of them and on the north side of a great mountain

* Schott, op. cit., 19. Note. t Schott, 19. Note. J Schott, op. cit., to,

i Id., 30. Note a. || Not 750 as Schott says. See Wolff, 19. Note 2i,

30 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

lived a tribe called Ta che Shi wei, on the banks ot a river flowing out ol
the lake Kiu lun into the north-east of the land of the Thu kiu. This
river, in its eastern course, watered the country of the Si and the Ta Shi
wei (/>., of the Western and Great Shi wei). Then it divided the country
of the Mongu Shi wei, who lived south of it, from that of the Lotan Shi
wei, who lived to the north. Further east it took in the rivers No and
Huhan, and separating the Northern and Southern Hechui, at length fell
into the sea." By this river, whose description is so baffling, is doubtless
meant the Amur, and its upper streams the Onon and Shilka. By Ta che
Shi wei was meant, according to Schott, the Shi wei with great wagons.*
It therefore answers somewhat to the He che tse of Visdilou, who lived
in this neighbourhood, and whose name in Chinese meant Black
Chariots. t Now Ta che is merely another form of Tata, or Tartar. So
that it may be that we have in these Ta che Shi wei the Tartars who
lived near Lake Buyur and its tributaries. They are perhaps the same
people as the No pe chi of the Thang annals. It would seem from the
confused account of the river, as above given, that the Chinese believed
that the Argun was merely the head stream of the Onon and Shilka.

The next mention of the Mongols is in the history of the Liau dynasty,
already cited. Having spoken of the Moho, this work goes on to
describe the Thie li hi shi kien, a name which Schott splits in two. Thie
li is a race name that occurs frequently,} and is applied to Turkish as
well as to Manchu tribes. Schott identifies the Hi shi kien with the
obscure Mongol tribe Kishikten, but it seems to me that it is another
form of the name He che tse, mentioned by Visdelou, and that it
represents the Tartars. We arc told they lived 4,000 li north-north-
east of Shang king, and that they paid no tribute, but only traded
with the Chinese. Directly north of, and also about 4,000 li distant from
Shang king (Shang king was probably situated near Boro Khotan, in the
district of Barin)§ lived the people called Mong ku li, who lived entirely
by hunting and cattle breeding, without any fixed pastures. They noma-
dized every year in search of water and grass. Their food consisted of
flesh and sour milk {i.e., kumis). They never did the Khitans any harm,
and bartered with them the hides of their cattle, sheep, camels, and
horses. Here we find the Mongols emerging from the obscurity of a sub-
ordinate tribe, and becoming much more important.

In this account their name no doubt connotes much more than it did
before, and several of the other tribes are included under it. We are next
told that further west than the Mong ku li, and 5,000 li from Shang king,
lived the people Yukiu (no doubt the Usuku of the Thang official history),
who resembled the Mong ku li in everything. In the thirty-second year of
the Emperor Shing tsong (1014) the Yukiu made a raid upon China, but

* op. cit., 21. Note. t Blbl Orien., 155.

{ Schott, op. cit., 14. Note. S Schott, 19. Not*.

THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS. 31

were so beaten by the Imperial army that they had since only come to
the Imperial court to trade. They de^rlt in the same articles as the
Mong ku li. Further to the north-west (? south-west) one came to the
peofde Pi-ku-li. Next to whom were the Ta ta (? the Onguts or White
Tartars), then some Turkish tribes, and lastly Tangut. In the official
history of the Kin dynasty the Mongols are called Mongu, and are
described as living to the north-east of the Jurji. Dr. Schott says this is
clearly a lapsus penicilli for north-west. Such is the account we
can gather from Chinese writers as to the origin of the Mongol race,
and it justifies us in tracing it up to the Shi wei.

I do not propose in this work to examine into the very crooked question
of the affinities of the earlier tribes of Nomades, the Huns, and others,
nor to encumber my already difficult subject with such perplexing
questions ; but' I may say that on tracing the Mongols to the Shi wei, we
connect them to some extent with the Khitans, who, according to Ma-
tuanlin, the Chinese Encyclopaedist, were descended from the Shi wei,
and if this be well grounded we connect them further with the Sian pi
and Uhuan, who were of the same stock as the Khitans, and also with the
Yuan- Yuan. This last name is singularly hke the name adopted by the
Mongols for their dynasty in China, namely, Yuen, and as their country
was the same as that of the Uirads, it is more than probable that the
Yuan- Yuan were the ancestors of the Uirads ; but I must postpone these
difficult questions for another work.

It is enough to say that between the sixth and the twelfth century the
Mongols proper played a very limited role in the world's history. They
were during that period confined to the northern part of Mongolia, that
part still held by the Khalkas, and also to the country south-west of the
Baikal Sea. After the fall of the Yuan- Yuan, the Turks, by whom they
were overthrown, acquired the supreme contrel of Eastern Asia. They
had, under the name of Hiong nu, been njasters of the Mongolian desert
and its border land from a very early period, and under their new narrie
of Turks they merely re-conquered a position from which they had been
driven some centuries before. Everywhere in Mongol history we find
evidence of their presence, the titles Khakan, Khan, Bigui or Beg,
Terkhan, &c., are common to both races, while the same names occur
among Mongol and Turkish chiefs ; but the most convincing proof, and
at the same time the most embarrassing result of their presence to the
student is the confusion induced in the names of tribes, so that in regard
to many of them, such as the Kunkurats, Durbans, &c., it is very difficult
to know whether they were Turks or Mongols, these names having been
borne apparently in later times by tribes and confederacies both of
Turks and of Mongols. This fact of the former predominance of Turkish
influence in further Asia supports the traditions collected by Raschid,
Abulghazi, &c., to which I shall presently refer, which trace the race of

32 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Mongol Khans up to the old royal race of the Turks. It has a most
important witness in a notice' I have only recently met with. Dr.
Bretschneider, at the end of his very valuable translation of the notices
of Chinese travellers to the West in Mongol times, gives a letter
which was sent by Jingis Khan to Chang chau. In this he refers to the
Shan yu, or ruler of the Hiong nu, as " our Shan yu." The translator
adds, this proves that he considered the ancient Hiong nu the ancestors
of the Mongols.* It rather suggests to my mind that the royal stock to
which he belonged was descended from that of the ancient Turkish
Hiong nu.

Having considered the origin of the race, I will now turn to that of the
royal family and examine the various traditions about it.

Ssanang Setzen makes the Mongol royal stock spring from that of
Thibet, and through it from Hindostan. He tells us that Dalai Subin
Aru Altan Shireghetu, the king of Thibet, was killed by treachery
by his minister Longnam, who thereupon usurped the throne. The
murdered Khan's three sons fled ; the eldest, Shiwaghochi, to the
land of Ngangbo, the middle one, Borachi, to the land of Bubo, and
the youngest, Burtechino, to that of Gongbo. Burtechino did not stay
with the people of Gongbo, but having taken the maiden Goa Maral to
be his wife, and having settled for a while on the borders of the Tenggis,
he set out once more and at length reached the shores of the Baikal
Sea, near the mountain Burkhan Khalduna, where he met the people
Bede. When they had interrogated him on the motives for his journey
and discovered that he was sprung from the great Indian chief Olana
crgukdeksen Khan and from the Thibetan Tul Esen, they said one to
another, " This young man is of high lineage and we have no overchief,
we will obey him." Upon which they ranged themselves as his subjects.t
In this account we have a confusion of two legends, neither of which
belongs properly to the Mongols. The story of the usurpation of
Longnam we know from Thibetan sources. The Thibetan account was
translated into Kalmuk, and is contained in a work entitled Nom
gharkhoi todorkhoi Tolli, whence Klaproth and Schmidt have abstracted
it.{ In the original Thibetan the three brothers are called Ja thi,
Nia thi, and Sha za thi. Thi, which is written Khri, means throne, and
is the surname of all the old Thibetan kings ; J a means bird or fowl,
Nia means fish, and Sha za means the flesh eater. The former two are
similar in meaning to the names of the two eldest sons of the dispossessed
Khan in Ssanang Sctzen's stor>-, namely, Shiwaghochi and Borachi,
which respectively mean the fowler and the fisherman, while the third
brother, the flesh eater, has been converted into Burtechino, which, as
I shall show presently, means the greyish blue or winter-coated wolf.

* Op. cit., 121. t Ssanang Setzen, 25 and 57.

I Klaproth, Tableaux Historiquea de TAiie, 157, 158. Schmidt, Forschungen, &c., 15, &c.

THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS. 33

a very typical flesh eater. The Thibetan version takes Sha za as far as
Gongbo (/>., the Thibetan province situated north of the upper Brahma
putra), and leaves him there, and there is no mention of his journey to
the Baikal, nor of the Bede people. We may safely conclude with
Klaproth, Wolff, and others that the identifying of Burtechino with Sha
za was the work of the Lamas, who, when the Mongols adopted their
religion, desired to flatter them by tracing their reigning house, to that of
Thibet, and through it up to Sakiamuni himself. The name of
Burtechino and the other incidents of the legend have been borrowed
from other than Thibetan sources, and are common to Ssanang Setzen
and the Chinese historians, to Raschid and Abulghazi, to the Western as
well as the Eastern historians of the Mongols. The legend as it
existed before the additions of the Lamas may be found in the Chinese
accounts. One of these authors says, "That the ancestor of the Mongol
royal house was a wolf of a skyeblue colour, named Burtechino," adding,
" a name which means a wolf of the light colour which their fur wears in
winter. This wolf married a white and savage bitch, that is to say, Goa
Maral, for maral is a bitch, and goa in Mongol means lady. This first
progenitor of the race led a wandering life, and having crossed the lake
called Tenghiz, at length arrived at the mountain Burkhan at the sources
of the river Onon."* As has been remarked by Klaproth and others, the
legend in regard to this wolfish origin of the race is found in the Chinese
annals at a much earlier period related of the origines of the Thu kiu or
earliest Turks. This legend says that " The ancestors of the Thu kiu
lived near the Si hai lake (probably the Issikul lake is meant). Their
reigning house was destroyed by a neighbouring people, and all were
massacred except a child ten years old, whose hands and feet, however,
were cut off. This child was nourished by a wolf. The enemy
having again threatened his life, a good genius transported him with
the wolf to the east of the lake, whence they went to a mountainous
country to the north-west of the country of Kao chang (or of the
Uighurs), where they found a cavern bordering on a fertile plain
which was only 200 li long. The female wolf there bore ten
male young ones, who captured wives for themselves and gave their
names to their families. As Asena was the bravest he became
their chief, his descendants reigned over the people who lived there.
They bore wolf's heads oh their standards in memory of their origin.
According to other accounts the name of their royal family was Sena, i.e,^
wolf.t This account and that in Ssanang Setzen in regard to the origin
of the Mongols are assuredly identical. The wolf appears prominently
in both. In both we have a great lake. In both the hero proceeds
eastwards after leaving it.} In both he arrives in a mountainous country,

Klaproth, Tableaux Historiques de I'Asie, 139. t Journal Asiatique, ist Series, ii. 209.

' t Schmidt has wrongly translated north, as has been shown by Abel Remusat, Nouv. Joum.
Aaiat., ix. 136.

34 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

and he becomes the chief of the folk who lived there. There
is another fact in the two stories which has not been hitherto
noticed^ so far as I know, and which might have saved a good deal of
hard writing by those two somewhat vitriolic persons, Klaproth and
Schmidt, anent the term Bede or Bida. Ssanang Setzen tells us
Burtechino became the chief of the Beda people, who lived in the
Burkhan Khaldun mountains. The Chinese narrative tells us he went
to the north-west (? a lapsus penicilli for north-east) qf the country of the
Kao chang or Uighurs. Now, I have shown in the notes at the end of
this book that the Uighurs were called ^ede in early times by their
Thibetan and other neighbours, that the Uighurs were a section of the
Turkish race, and that until the middle of the ninth century they lived
in the north-west of Mongolia, close to the Burkhan Khaldun mountains,
with their capital at. Karakorum. Abulghazi further tells us that when
Burtechino went northwards he went from the country of Irgene kun, a
valley surrounded with sharp crags. This I take to be the retired valley
of the Issikul, called Timurtu gol, or the iron lake, by the Mongols, the
seat of the earliest Turkish traditions. The name Irgene kun is probably
identical with the Organum, mentioned by Rubruquis. This series of
facts make it very clear that just as the Mongols borrowed their Thibetan
genealogy from their Lama teachers, so they derived from the Uighurs,
who first taught them letters in the thirteenth century, the story of the
descent of their Imperial family from the old Turkish Khans. Notwith-
standing this, it is more than probable, as I have said, that there was
a considerable amount of truth in the latter legend.

Raschid, who had access to the Golden Register of the Mongols, and
whose critical powers were very considerable, connects them with the old
Turkish royal stock. Like a good Mussulman, he begins with the
patriarchs who are such prominent figures both in the Old Testament
and the Koran.

The following table shows the earlier descents according to these
curious genealogists : —

J«ph«t.

Turk. Khazar. Saklab. Rus. Ming. Chin. Kimari. Tankh.

Tutuk. HakaU Barsadjar. Emlak.

Utche Khan.

Dib Bakoi Khan:

Kuynk Khan.

Alinje Khan.

Tatar Khan. Mogol Khaq,

THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS. 35

Mogol Khan.

Karftkhan.
Oghux Khan.

Uz Khan. Kuz Khan. Kur Khan.

Kun khan. Ai Khan. Yolduz Khan. Kuk Khan. Tagh Khan. Tinguix Khaa.

Yolduz Khan.

Mingli Khan.

Tinguix Khan.

I ■

UKhan.

Kian. Nolou.

In this genealogy we have a curious medley, in which Turks and
Mongols are confounded. The table is in fact the legendary table of the
ancestry of the Turkish tribes, and Kara Khan, Oghuz Khan, and II
Khan are famous names in Turkish history. The country where we are
told these princes hved was lake Issikul, the Karakum desert, and the
borders of the Jaxartes, that is, the old Turk land ; and there can be
small doubt that when the Mongols became famous, and the Turkish and
Persian historians were at a loss, as the Lamas were at a later date, to
find a suitably dignified ancestry for their princes, they boldly tacked
them on to the line of old Turkish sovereigns.

We are told that the families descended from Tatar and Mogol Khan
were at constant feud with one another, and at length the latter were
nearly extirpated. The only remaining members of it being the Kian
and Nokuz above mentioned, who with their people took refuge in the
famous valley of Irgene kun. Here their descendants remained for
400 years. We are not told who the princes were who reigned during
this interval and after its close the story really commences again, and
the statement clearly hides one of the joints in the patchwork, and
is of value only as showing how the incongruous materials of the
genealogy have been pieced together. At length, after 400 years, the
Mongols are said to have broken the yoke of the Tartars, and to have
issued from the defiles of Irgene kun. Abulghazi says that their king
at the time when they left was Burtechino, descended from Kian, and of
the tribe of the Kurulas.* This Burtechino and the Burtechino of
Ssanang Setzen are clearly the same person, proving further that we here
have a fresh beginning of the story. The Kurulas were a section of the
Turkish tribe of the Kunkurats, thus the connection with the Turks is
still kept up in the legend.

According to the Chinese accounts Burtechino had a son Bedetse.t
Ssanang Setzen, who has merely interpolated certain names in the older
lists, gives Bedetse a brother Bedes, making the former the ancestor of

* AWgiiMii Bdt Dtsiniuioa'ff ai« t jovnu Aii«t»i ih 708 ; iii. lU) iig.

36 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

the Taidshuts and the latter of the Mongols, contrary to the much better
authority of Raschid.

The following table shows the succession according to Ssanang Setzen
and the Persian Raschid.*

Burtechino. Burtechino.

Bedetse. Bichin Kian.

Tamatsak. Timaj.f

Khoritsar Mergen. Kichi Merguen.

Aghojim Bughurul. Kudjuin Bughnil.

Sali Khaldshigo.1

Nige Nidan {i.e., one-eyed). Yeke Nidun (t.«., Iarge-eyed).i

Samsuji. Sam Sauji.

KhaU KharUhu. Khali Khaju.

So far the two lists are practically identical and clearly derived from
the same source, but at this point they diverge.

Ssanang Setzen makes Khali be succeeded by Bordshigetei Mergen,
who seems to be merely an eponymos created to explain the family name
Bordshig. His wife Mergen Mongholdshin Goa seems to be an equivalent
of the Mongol name. Their son he calls Torghaldshin Bayan, who by
his wife Borokchin Goa had two sons, named Doa Sokhor and Dobo
Mergen. The former is given four sons, namely, Donoi, Dokshin,
Emnek, and Erke, who are made the ancestors of the four Uirad tribes.
All this except the mention of Dobo Mergen is an interpolation, and one
which has been very ingeniously explained. Dobo or Dubun, as he is
called by Raschid, has been identified with Topo Khan, the great chiet
of the Turks, who died in 581. He had a brother named Sekin or Sakui,
who is no doubt the Doa Sochor of Ssanang Setzen. We are told that
on the death of Topo Khan the Turks were divided into four sections,
just as Ssanang Setzen makes Doa Sokhor's four sons be the heads of
the four Uirad tribes. The whole is an ingenious adaptation of the Turk
legend, and is of no value. |j Raschid, who is a much better authority,
makes Khali Khaju be immediately succeeded by Dubun Bayan, while
Abulghazi interposes the names of Timur Tash, Mingli Khodja, and
Yolduz Khan. M. Desmaison says he does not kno>f where he has got
them from. With Dubun Bayan, or Dubun the Ox,l[ we get again on
common ground. Ssanang Setzen tells us that Doa Sokhor was so
called because (like Cyclops) he had only one eye, aud this in the
midst of his forehead. One day as he and his brother were playing on

* The orthography of these names is taken from M. Berezide's Edition, as given in the notes
jn Desmaison's Edition of Abulghazi.

t Timaj bad four other sons, who settled elsewhere and became the ancestors of th«
Durbans. Durban means four. £rdmann, 5)4«

I This is doubtless an interpolation. ^ Schmidt's Ssanang Setxen, 373.

I Wolff, IS' Schmidt's Ssanacg Sttien, 374. IT Rrdmand* i6g.

THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS. 37

the mountain Biirkhan Khaldun, the elder brother said, there comes a
caravan from the district of Toiring Garudi along the river Tunggelik.
(This stream is still called the Tungglu. It springs on the west side of
the mountains Burkhan Khaldun, and flows into the Karagol.)* In
one of the wagons there is a girl supernaturally bom. We will go and see
her, and she shall be your wife.t After this they both set out and discovered
that she vras born of Baraghodshin Goa, the wife of Khoritai Mergen, of the
Khoyar Tumed. Raschid says she belonged to the tribe of the Kurulas,
(/>., she was a Turk),t and that she had a spirit for her father. Her
name was Alung Goa, and Dobo Mergen made her his wife, and by her
had two sons, Belgetei and Begontei, and then died. After her husband's
death (Abulghazi says some years after) Alung Goa one night had a
dream, during which a ray of light penetrated through a hole in the
ceiling into her tent, and took the form of a fair-haired youth with blue
eyes who lay by her ; by him she had three sons, Bughu Khataki, Bughu
Saldshigo, and Budantsar Mong Khan.

In reference to this legend, it may be remarked that it is a repetition
of the original story of the incarnation of the Buddha Sakiamuni. A
similar story is told about the birth of Apaokhi, the founder of the
Liau dynasty, and also of Aishin Giyoro, the reputed founder of the
Manchu dynasty. The existence of Alung Goa is attested by so many
independent witnesses, that it may perhaps be believed. Raschid tells
us that, according to the history of the house of Jingis Khan, deposited
in the Imperial treasury (the same MS. elsewhere referred to by Raschid
as the Altan Defter, or Golden Register), and according to the evidence
of very old men, she probably hved four centuries before his time, />.,
in the early years of the Abbassides and the Samanids.§ This would
answer to the date when the name Mongol first appears in the Chinese
histories. Her descendants were called Bordshig, probably in reference
to the colour of the eyes of their supernatural father, for Abulghazi says
that the Mongols called a person with light blue eyes Burjighin.||
Schmidt tells us that Bordshig means with brownish grey eyes. Ssanang
Setzen gives the Mongols the name of Koke Mongols or Blue Mongols,
and the whole has reference, no doubt, to the heavenly or supernatural
origin of the race.

The three sons who were supernaturally bom and their posterity were
named Niruns (children of light), to distinguish them from their older
brothers and their descendants, who were styled Darlegins. According
to Raschid, the Niruns were to the Darlegins as the pearl is to the
oyster and the fruit to the tree. This distinction, which is largely insisted
upon by the Persian historians, is one full of embarrassment to the
student. The Orientals are very poor ethnologists, and their distinctions

* Wolfif, 14. Mote. f Stmniiig Seuen^ S9' I y*^^ notes.
5 D'OhssoDi Hilt, del Mongols, ii 24. Note* || Opt cit.» B4., Pesm.* 7i»

38 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

are rather political than ethnic. We constantly find in the accounts
of Arabic and Persian geographers the greatest confusion in regard to
race distinctions. In the present instance the confusion is profound.
Thus the most important section of the Darlegins, namely, the Kunkurats,
who formed a confederacy of six tribes, were, I am convinced, not
Mongols at all but Turks, a view for whose justification I must refer to
the notes at the end of the volume, where I have also tried to show that
their country was not, as D'Ohsson argues, on the borders of Manchuria,
but on the western part of the Shamo desert south of the river Onghin.
Some of the Nirun tribes I also think were very probably Turks, namely,
the Durbans, the Barins, and the Sukanuts, who lived in the central part
of the desert, the name of one tribe still remaining attached to the district
of Barin or Parin there. There is good reason for believing the Bayauts
another Darlegin tribe, to have. been also Turks. They lived on the
western feeders of the Selinga. On the other hand, the Darlegin tribes
of the Umauts, Hushins, Suldus, Ildurkins, and Kingits were probably
Mongols, but not subject to the Imperial family to which Jingis Khan
belonged,* and not immediately governed by his relatives, but, like the
Uirads, directly ruled over by another stock. The name Nirun was
probably confined to those who obeyed immediately the royal family of
the Bordshigs, and can perhaps best be explained by the use of the term
** white bones " among the Kazaks of our day, a name they apply to those
only who belong to the royal stock. Each of the three sons of Alung
Goa who were miraculously born is made the epomymous hero of a
distinguished stock. The eldest one of that of the Katakins, the second
of the Saljuts, and the third of that of the Bordshigs or Imperial stock
of the Mongols. The two former tribes were among the most inveterate
enemies of Jingis Khan in his early days. They perhaps looked upon
him as only representing the younger branch of the family, as he was
descended from Alung Goa's third son. We are told that Budantsar had a
distinguished presence, but that he was simple in his tastes, serious, and
talked little, which made his relatives think he had but little spirit. His
mother, however, reassured them, and told them he would have a
numerous progeny. On her death a quarrel seemed imminent among
the brothers in regard to the division of the heritage. '* Why embarrass
yourself with wealth?" said Bundantsar^ **are not the plans of man
scattered by the will of the gods ? " He thereupon mounted his horse
and went to the country of Palitun alan.t Ssanang Setzen says that
when the heritage was divided nothing was assigned to Budantsar except
a tawny horse named Uruk Sussuk. This he mounted and hied him
along the river Onon.^ At Palitun ala he found himself short of pro^
visions. Meanwhile he saw a falcon devouring a quarry of the species

* Stt dotf 1 at the cbd tf the Tdlomt. t Dc llaillft, ix. 4* I Op. tiU 6u

. i" THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS. 39

called Khara Khuru. He caught it with a lasso and trained it to kill
game for him, while he obtained drink from a small colony of people who
lived close by, separated from their race and without any ruler. His
nights he passed in a thatched hut. This account, with slight variations,
is conmion to Ssanang Setzen and the Chinese author translated by De
Mailla. But to continue. After a while Budantsar was joined by several
families who had left their tribe in the country of Tonkili hulu and had
settled around him. His brother Bughu Khataki went to find him and
returned with him. On his return home Budantsar told his people that
with a small force he could easily subdue the people of Tunkili hulu.
Having accordingly got together a body of men he set out for that
country, which he conquered.* Hyacinthe has corrected Tunkili hulu
into Tenggeri-Khura,t />., the celestial ramparts, by which the chain of
Burkhan Ehaldun is doubtless meant.

According to Raschid and the Chinese authorities Budantsar left one
5on.{ I prefer to follow the orthography of Hyacinthe and to call him
Bagaritai Khabitshi.§ • According to Raschid he was succeeded by his
son Dutum Menen, called Minen Dudum by Hyacinthe,|| the Mahatudan
of De Mailla,ir and Makha Todan of Ssanang Setzen.** His wife was
named Monalun, and by her, according to the Chinese authorities, he
had seven sons.tt Raschid says nine. It is with her that we first meet
with an incident to relieve the general monotony of the story, and which
is so circumstantially told that we can hardly doubt its having some
foundation in fact. The story goes that the Jelairs having been defeated
near the river Eerulon by an army of Kin Tartars, seventy of their
families took refuge on Mongol territory. These fugitives, to appease
their hunger, proceeded to dig some wild roots that grew there. The
root, according to Raschid, was called sudusum, and it has been
identified with great probability by M. Berezine with a root still called
sudu by the Mongols, the sanguisorba camea of botanists, which is used
as a substitute for tea.tt Monalun, who was of a truculent and irritable
disposition, inquired harshly how they dared to tear up the ground where
her children exercised their horses, and without waiting for an ansvver,
she ran over several of them with her chariot. The Jelairs resented this,
made a raid upon the horses of her tribe and captured them. Her sons

* De Mailla, ix. 4, 5. t Ssanang Setzen. Schmidt's note, 375.

X He is called Buka by the Persian authors, Capitsi calup Paturu by De Mailla, iz. 5, and
Bagaritai Khabitshi by Hyacinthe. Out of the latter Ssanang Setzen has made two sons,
whom he calls Baghantai Khan isaghortu and Khabitshi Baghatur ; he further adds, probably
to flatter some of his friends, that he had a third illegitimate son named Wadshirtai, the
ancestor of the family of the Wadshirtai. He has also gratuitously inserted another genera-
tion in the genealogy in the person of Biker Baghatur, whom he makes a son of Khabitshi,
and whose name is doubtless a corruption of Bagharitai. Op. cit., 61.

i Erdmann*s Temujin, 530. Note. B D'Ohsson, i. 26. Note. ^ Op. dt., iz. 5.

** Op. cit., 61. tt De Mailla, iz. 5. Erdmann's Temujin, 340.

II Erdmann's Temujin, 541. Note.

40 ^ HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS,

went in pursuit without waiting to put on their armour. Their mother,
fearing for the result, sent off their wives with carts loaded with armour,
but they arrived too late. . The chiefs had been killed, and the Jelairs
returned and put Monalun and such of her family as they could lay
hands upon to death.* According to the Chinese narrative, which I
prefer to follow, there only escaped in this massacre Nachin, the youngest
son of Monalun, who was then living in the country of Bargu, where he
was married, and Kaidu, the infant child of her eldest son, and who was
hid away by his nurse in a bundle of faggots. This Nachin, who no
doubt succeeded in some measure to the chief authority among the
Mongols, is clearly the Kachi Kuluk of Ssanang Setzen. On hearing of
this disaster he returned to the horde, and plotted his revenge. Having
disguised himself as a herdsman, he went towards the Jelair country
On his way he met two men, father and son, who were hawking, and
some distance apart. Seeing his brother's hawk on the younger Jelair's
fist, he first told him he had seen some wild ducks and geese, and would
conduct him to them. Having taken him some distance, he assassinated
him, and returning, also killed his father. He soon after came across a
herd of horses, which had also belonged to his brothers. Having killed
the young people in charge, he returned with the herd, and with the
hawk on his fist. He then removed his father's uluss and the young
Kaidu to the country of Barguchin Tugrum, which from the latter took
the name of Kaidu Chunlun.t When Kaidu grew up his uncle caused
him to be recognised as their chief by the people of Bargu and Tsieku.
He then marched against and subdued the Jelairs, and fixed his residence
at the river KarakuLt Many tribes submitted to him. He became rich
in wives and cattle. He built many towns and villages on the banks of
the Onon, across which river he also built a bridge, and he was doubtless
the real founder of the Mongol power. Kaidu Khan left three sons, Bai
Sankur, who succeeded him, Jerke Linkum, who became the chief of the
Taidshuts, and Jaujin Urdeki, who became the chief of the Sidshuts and
Ertekins.§ Of these only the eldest is mentioned by Ssanang Setzen and
De Mailla. He is called Shingkor Dokshin by the former and Paichongor
by the latter. Ssanang Setzen's is probably the correct orthography, and
I shall follow it.

Shingkor Dokshin had a son named Tumbaghai ; the Tumene Khan or
Raschid and Abulghazi. On his death Shingkor's widow married his
next brother Jerkeh Lingkum, whose name, according to Raschid, is of
Chinese etymology, Lingkum meaning great prince. || By her he had two
sons, namely, Gendu J inch and Ulgedshin Jineh, who became the chiefs
of the clans Jines ; and by another wife two others, named Surkul and

* D'Obsson, i. ij, 28. t £rdmann*s Temtuin, 343. I D'Ohston, i. 29.

S Abulghazi, Ed. Desm., 67, 68. Erdmanii, 544. D'Ohsson, Genealogical Table, Vol.
I Erdmano's Temujio, 217.

THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS. 41

Ludshineh. The son and successor of Surkul was Hemukai Khan, to
whom I shall revert presently.

Tumbaghai left nine sons, who became the founders of very numerous
tribes. So much did they increase that we are told that in
A.D. 1300, but two centuries after this time, they numbered nearly
30,000 families.* These sons are thus named : — i. Jaksu, the father
of Nuyakin, Unit, and Mingkut, the respective chiefs of the tribes
bearing those names. 2. Barim Shiratu Khaiju, the chief of a tribe
not named. 3. Kajuli, father of Erdemji Berulas, the chief of the
Berulas, the tribe to which the great Timur belonged. 4. Sem kadjun,
the chief of the Hederkins. 5. Baitkulki, the chief of the Budats. 6.
Kabul Khan, the ancestor of Jingis Khan. 7. Udur Bayan, the chief of
the Jadjerats or Juriats. 8. Budanjar Doghlan (r.^., the cripple), the chief
of the Doghlats. And 9. Jintai, the chief of the Yissuts (called Baisuts
by Erdmann) ; he was also styled Utchugen, like the other youngest
sons of the Mongol Khanjs. Utchugen, according to Abulghazi, means
"the master of the hearth," and is derived from the fact that while the
other sons were each settled elsewhere, the youngest remained at home
and was the heir to his father's yurt.t Schmidt disagrees with this, and
says it merely means the youngest or the child.J

After the great exploits of Timur in the fourteenth century, it became
the fashion of his flatterers to connect his ancestry very closely with that
of the family of Jingis Khan, and he is made to descend from Karachar,
who is styled the hereditary leader of his forces. The story is contained
in several of the later writers. According to Mirkhond the origin of this
hereditary position was as follows : — ** One -day Kajuli, the third son of
Tumeneh or Tumbagai, dreamt that a star issued from the thigh of his
brother Kabul, but the firmament remained dark ; then a second one,
and it became twilight ; then a third, and it was dusk. Then there came
out a very sparkling star, so that the whole sky was lit up with its rays,
trhich imparted a greater lustre to the other stars. Kajuli awoke, and
supposed that only a third of the night had passed. He meditated on
his dream, and went to sleep again. Again a series of stars issued, but
this time from his own thigh. This scries consisted of eight stars, of
which the last was again by far the most brilliant. When daylight came
Kajuli betook himself to his father Tumeneh, and related his dream.
He was much pleased with it, called his son Kabul Khan, and had it
repeated to him. The grandees maintained that three princes descended
from Kabul Khan would mount the throne ; that another of his descend-
ants would enjoy the Imperial authority, and would conquer the earth from
one end to the other ; and after his death his dominions would remain
for a long time subject to his descendants. That from Kajuli would also

• D'OhtsoD, 1. 30. t Abulghazi; 70. t Sstnang Setzen, 375

F

42 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

spring seven descendants, who would bear rule, and the eighth would
far eclipse them, and also rule the earth. Tumeneh Khan was much
struck by this dream, and with the concurrence of his other sons he
named Kabul Khan his successor, and appointed Kajuli generalissimo of
his forces, and left it in his will that these posts should be hereditary.
This will was written in the Uighur character, was sealed with his
Tamgha (or monogram), and it was kept in the Imperial treasury.
Kabul Khan mounted the throne, and Kajuli Khan Baghatur faithfully
performed his office." *

Kabul was apparently the first Mongol sovereign who had intercourse
with the Chinese Imperial court. It is said that having been summoned
to the court of the Kin Emperor, he astonished him by his immense
appetite. One day, being very drunk, he so far forgot himself as to seize
the Emperor's beard. When he became sober, he demanded to be
punished, but the Emperor only laughed ; and to show that he had over-
looked the fault, presented him with a gold-embroidered silken garment
suitable to his size, a crown, and a golden girdle. After his departure,
instigated by his courtiers, the Emperor sent messengers to demand his
return ; and when these messengers tried to take him away forcibly, he
had them put to death.

It is probably to this period that we must assign the events referred to
in the history of the Kin dynasty styled the Ta kin kwo chi, where we
read that during the reign of the Kin Emperor Tai tsung, whose
Tungusie name was Ukimai, i.e., in the interval between 1123-1137, a
great number of the Mongols became subject to him, but in the next
reign, 11 38-1 140, they were rebellious.t This surely points to the sub-
mission and the subsequent rebellion of Kabul Khan. At this period we
also meet with the Mongols in the pages of De Mailla. He tells us that
about 1 135 they began to be very powerful and a menace to the empire,
and that towards the end of this year the Kin Emperor sent his general
Hushaku against them.} This general was not successful, and
Hushaku was obliged to retire. His retreat was the signal for the
advance of the Mongols, who captured many of his people and followed
him as far as the district of Hai ling, where the Kin general ventured a
general engagement, and his army was cut in pieces. Another and
more formidable army was sent against them. This was apparently in

* Kajuli. we are told, was the father of Erdemji, and Erdemjiof Karachar. Erskise doubts
the story inasmuch as it is contained in late authorities such as Mirkhond, and thinks it was
invented to flatter Timur. D'Ohsson says Karachar is not named by either Raschid or Juveni
(op. cit., ii. 108. Note), but in this he is surely mistaken, for in the former's description of the
apportionment of Jingis Khan's people he says the great chief assigned 4,000 to his sonjagati.
These were divided into four Hezarehs, and Berlutai Karachar of the Derulas is made the
commander of the first Hezarch. Erdmann, 453.

t Schott, op. cit., 17. I De Mailla, viii. 518. § De Mailla, viii. 529,

THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS. 43

It was in the reign' of Kabul Khan that the long feud commenced
between the Mongols and Tartars, which ended in the destruction of the
latter by Jingis Khan. Kabul's wife was named Goa Kulkua, and she
was of the tribe of the Kunkurats. It happened that her brother, named
Sain Tikin, fell ill, and a Tartar Shaman named Jerkil Nuduij was
summoned to cure him. Notwithstanding his conjuring, Sain Tikin died,
and his relatives wreaked their vengeance on the sorcerer, who was
returning quietly home, and killed him. The Tartars took up arms to
revenge him.* A struggle ensued at a place called Beran Segdan, in which
Kedan Behadur distinguished himself in single combat with the Tartar
leader Meter Behadur. The struggle was resumed the following year,
and led to many fights between the Mongols and the Tartars.t One
result of this war was that Hemukai, the chief of the Taidshuts, who had
gone to fetch his wife from among the Tartars, was taken prisoner by
them. He was, as we have seen, a near relative of Kabul Khan. The
Tartars sent him as a prisoner to the Kin Emperor, who, to revenge
himself upon Kabul Khan for the murder of his envoys, had him put to
death in the cruel method adopted in the case of rebels. He was nailed
down to a wooden ass, his skin stripped oflf, and his body hewn into
pieces. t Kabul Khan marched against the Kin empire and revenged
himself. Some time after it would appear that the Tartars captured
Ukin Berkak, Kabul Khan's eldest son, and sent him also as a prisoner
to the Kin court. There he was put to death in the same manner as
Hemukai.§

Kabul Khan had six sons, whose impetuosity and vigour fitly gained
them the surname of Kiat, or Kiyat, />., torrents. Abulghazi says that the
Mongols call a mountain torrent Kian, of which the plural is Kiat. Kiat
or Kiyat, as is well known was the family name of Jingis Khan, and it
seems to be much older than the days of Kabul Khan. The Chinese
form of the name is Kian. Kian and Noguz or Nokus were the two
sections of the Mongols who sought refuge at Irgene kun ; and it is
curious that one of the four main divisions of the Turkish Uzbegs is
called Kiat Kunghrat or Kiat Kunkurat. This is another proof that the
Mongol royal race was descended from that of the Turks. These six
sons were named Ukin Berkak, || Bardam Behadur, Khutuktu Munker,
Kadan Behadur, Kutula Khan, and Tudan Utshugen. (I Have followed
the orthography of M. Beresine in the notes to the new edition of
Abulghazi.) Of these the most famous was Kutula Khan, called Kubilai
by D'Ohsson,*! and Kutlah Khan by Erdmann.** He was a favourite
hero of Mongol stor>'. His voice is compared to the thunder in the

* Erdmann's Extracts from Raschid, 42. D'Ohsson, i. 32. t Erdmadti's Temujin, 553, 554.

] Erdraann's Extracts from Raschid, 43. Note. § Erdmann's Temujin, 317.

! He was the father of Sidsheh Bigi, who became the chiet of the Kiat Burgins. Vide infra, 53

% Op. cit., i. 32. *• Erdmann's Temujin, 556.

44 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

mountains, his hands were strong like bear's paws, and with them he
could break a man in two as easily as an arrow may be broken. He
would lie naked near an immense brazier in the winter, heedless of the
cinders and sparks that fell on his body, and, on awakening, would
mistake the burns merely for the bites of insects. He ate a sheep a day,
and drank immense quantities of kumis. To revenge the murder of
their relatives the Mongols now entered upon a great campaign against
the Kin empire. Of this expedition Kutula was elected the leader ; with
him also went Yissugei, the grandson of Kabul Khan and the father of
Jingis ; Kadan Taishi, the son of Hemukai, and his son Tuda.* They
defeated the Imperial army and retired with a rich booty. On his return
homewards Kutula amused himself with hunting, and got separated from
the rest of the army, with only one follower and a slave. He was thus
almost alone when he was surprised by the Durbans. On their approach
he sped his horse at full gallop and drove it into a marsh, where it sank,
but be sprang on the saddle and thence on to the ground. The Durbans,
it is said, disdained to touch him, saying, " What can a Mongol do
without his horse .'* " and they accordingly left him, upon which he
returned to his horse, seized it by its mane, pulled it out of the quagmire,
and returned homewards. Meanwhile the news of his disaster had
reached his home, where it was thought he had been killed, and Yissugei
had already carried the meats for the funeral feasts to the yurts of Kadan
Taishi, and Tuda, the relatives of Hamukai, and to that of Kutulas
widow. But the latter refused to credit the story. " How can he whose
voice is like the thunder, and whose hands are Hke bear's paws, become
a victim to the Durbans ? Depend upon it his delay is caused by
some other reason, and he will come presently.'! After recovering
his horse he determined not to return home empty handed, but
having caught a stallion belonging to the Durbans, he drove a herd of
their oxen before him, filled his boots with the eggs of wild geese
which he found on the steppe, and rode home barefoot.f Nothing
of this appears in the pages of Ssanang Setzen,, of De Mailla, or of
Abulghazi, nor in fact is Kutula mentioned by them at all. They all
make Kabul Khan be immediately succeeded by Bartam Behadur, and
if the exploits assigned to him are really his, and not his father^s, or
rightly belonging to some other hero of Mongol romance, they must be
credited to him not as the Khan of the Mongol race but as the bravest
of the six Kiats. Although .Ssanang Setzen does not mention him
individually he does refer to^the brothers, and has a story which seems to
exclude him effectually from the succession. He says that Kabul Khan
had seven sons, and that Ambai, i.<r., Hemuki, the chief of the Taidshuts,
had ten, and that a strife having arisen between them, the latter fell on

• Erdmann'i Temujin, 556. t Erdmann, 55g*CCi. D'Ohsson, i. 33-35«

THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS. ^^ 45

the former and killed six of the seven brothers, plundered and subdued
their territory. The seventh, Bardam Baghatur (the Bertam Behader of
Erdmann), escaped with three wounds, escorted by four " companions,"
while his eldest son Yissugei Baghatur, then thirteen years old, speared
a mailed warrior through and through, and having seized his horse
followed his father. Sain Maral Khayak, the wife of Bardam Baghatur,
had meanwhile escaped on foot with her three younger sons, Negun,
Mengetu, and Utchugen. We do not know how the Mongols revenged
this defeat. We are simply told by Ssanang Setzen that Kabul Khan
was succeeded by his son Bardam Baghatur.* De Mailla says the same,
only he calls him Pardai. Abulghazi also says that on the death of Kabul
Khan his son Bartan was proclaimed Khan, and we may take it as clear
that these authorities are right. The difficulty about the exact status of
Kutula does not afifect the truth of the statements about the fight with
the Kin empire. This we can confirm from other sources. Thus we
read in De Mailla, under the year 1 1 47, that the war between the Kin
empire and the Mongols still continued, and the son of Talan, called
Chinghoa-tulang, whose country bordered on that of the Mongols, on the
death of his father abandoned the cause of the Kins and went over to
them, a defection which proved ver>' valuable to them, and the general
Uchu, who, on his return from Pien leang, was sent against them was
constrained to make peace with them, to surrender twenty-seven fortresses
north of the river Si ping ho, and to promise to pay them annually
a certain quantity of cattle, sheep, and grain. He wished to give their
chief the dignity of prince with the title of Mongfu-kuewang, but the
chief refused it and styled himself Emperor of the great empire of the
Mongols, with the title Tsuyuen Wangti.t The effects of this campaign
are doubtless referred to in the history of the Kin dynasty, already
mentioned, which speaks in more general terms. There we read that
in ii38-ii4othe Mongku became rebellious. Since then, it goes on to
say, the Mongku have obtained many Khitan and Chinese boys and
girls, either in war or by way of ransom, who have coalesced with them ;
have gradually got accustomed to the use of cooked meats, and become
a great nation under the name of Ta Mongu ku6, />., the kingdom of the
Great Mongols.} These extracts prove that the Mongols had already
consolidated a considerable power some time before the days of Jingis
Khan.

The wife of Bardam Baghatur, according to Ssanang Setzen, was called
Sain Maral Khayak. § She is called Sunigel Fudshin by Erdmann, who
tells us she belonged to the tribe of the Barghuts.H By her he had four
sons, Yissugei Baghatur, Negun Taishi, Mungdu Kian, and Dariti

• OjK cit. 81. t De MailU, viii. 545. J Schott, op. cit. § Op. dt., 83.

B Erdmann's Temvjin, 251.

\

4<> HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Utchugen.* Of these Yissugei was the most famous, and succeeded
him on the throne.

Ssanang Setzen has a story that one day Yissugei was hunting in
company with his two younger brothers, and was following the tracks of
a white hare in the snow. They struck upon the spoor of a waggon, and
following it up came to a spot where a woman's yurt was pitched.
Then said Yissugei, "This woman will bear a valiant son." He dis-
covered that she was the damsel Ogelen Eke {i.e., the mother of nations),
and that she was the wife of Yeke Yilatu, of the Tartar tribe, and was
returning home with him. As the strangers drew near her yurt she said
to her husband, " Don't you see the intention of the eldest of the three
men ?" With these words she took off her under garment, gave it to
Jilatu, and said, " Haste you away as quickly as you can." While this
was going on the three brothers drew near, and Yeke Yilatu took to flight.
They plundered neither the hut nor its contents, but only carried away
Ogelen Eke. She ceased not to cry until the youngest of the three
brothers, Dariti Utchugen, addressed her, and said, " We have already
crossed three rivers, we already have three mountain ranges behind us.
Pursuit is hopeless. Your cries will not be heard." Upon which our
author says she became quieter. Yissugei made her his wife. De Mailla
tells us that until his reign the Mongols had been more or less tributaries
of the Liau and Kin dynasties in China, and that he was the first to free
them from that yoke ;t and it is not improbable that we must assign to
him, and not to an earlier Khan, the events I have already related, when
the Mongol Khan refused to accept a Chinese title and styled himself the
Emperor of the Great Mongols.^ Previously the Taidshuts had apparently
been the chief tribe among the Mongols, but they were induced to obey
the strong hand of Yissugei Baghatur. After the death of Hemukei, the
chief of the Taidshuts, there was a grievous contention among his
relatives as to who should succeed him, but this was decided, as I have
already described, by the choice of Terkutai Kiriltuk;

In 1 1 54 and 1155 Yissugei marched with a large army against the
Tartars. He overran their country, laid it waste, and captured its two
chiefs, Temujin Ergeh and Kur Buka, and returned home to his encamp-
ment on the Onon laden with booty. At this time his wife Ogelen Eke
gave birth to his firstborn son, upon which they named the boy 1 emujin,
or rather Temudjin,§ after the defeated Tartar Khan.ll

The birthplace of the famous chief, who was to be so widely known in

♦ Ssanang Sctzcn, 61. t Op. cit., ix. 8. I Vidt previous page.

S Erdmann writes the name Temudschin, which according to our orthography would be

written Temujin, as I have written it occasionally in the notes, but I find that Visdelou writes

the name The mud gin (op. cit., 230 and 334), and therefore the spelling Tcmudjin which has

been adopted in the following chapters is probably more correct.

S Ssanang SeUen, 63.

THE ORIGINES OF THE MONGOLS. 47

later days, is fortunately easy to fix. It is called " Deligun Buldagha, near

the Onon," by Ssanang Setzen, and Tie li vun by Hyacinth.* The place

is still known under the same name, and is mentioned by a Russian trader

named Yurinski, a native of Nertschinsk, who describes Dilun Boldak as

a place on the right bank of the Onon, seven versts higher than the island

Eke Aral (/>., the great island), and three versts from the Kotshuefshian

guard-house.t D'Ohsson says that Bulduk in Mongol means hill-t Wolff

explains the name as meaning " the mole hill.^'J Deligun Bulduk was

doubtless the place where Yissugei had his chief camp and was the

focus of his kingdom. According to Ssanang Setzen, Temudjin was

proclaimed Khan and took the name of Jingis there, || among the

places whose memory is invoked in the burial dirge composed for his

funeral by Kiluken Baghatur, Deligun Bulduk on the Onon is specially

apostrophised fif and we gather from other sources that the country

of the Onon was in fact the cradle land of the Mongols. It is called

the land of Onon Kerule by Rubruquis. This name has been interpreted

as the land of the Onon and the Kerulon, but I believe it is merely

a corruption of Onon Kiher, the plains of the Onon. Those plains

arc otherwise frequently referred to as Sari Kiher, or the Yellow Plains.**

The Onon springs in the knot of mountains known as the Kente

chain, and called Burkhan Khaldun by the Mongol historians, the sacred

peaks to which sacrifices were offered, and whose spirits were looked

upon as the special patrons of the Mongols, as those of the White

Mountains of Manchuria were of the Manchus.

But we must on with our story. According to the Persian authors
followed by De la Croix, the young Temudjin's horoscope was drawn
by the father of Karachar Noyan, the ancestor of Timurlenk.tt
who foretold a bloody career for him. Besides Temudjin, Yissugei had
by his wife Ogelen Eke three other sons, namely, Juji Khassar, Khad-
shiken, and Temugu Utchugen, and by two other wives, named Goa
Abaghai and Doghaskhi, two other sons, named Bekter and Belgutei.
It is quite clear from the subsequent history that Yissugei was obeyed by
all the sections of the Mongol race comprised in the divisions Niruns
and Darlighins.tt We do not realise in this statement how very small
the beginnings were of that vast empire built up by his son, nor do we
do so until we read that the number of families subject to his father
probably did not exceed 40,000, and that his kingdom may therefore be
fitly compared, as Erdmann has compared it, with the dukedoms of
Oldenburgh or Saxe Weimar Eisenach,§§ assuredly a very small focus
out of which in so short a time to build up so large an empire. The

D'Ohuon, i. 36. Note. t Erdmann's Tcmujin, 571. I Op. cit., i. 36. Note.

i Op. cit., 33. 'I Op. cit., i. 71. ^ Ssanang Setzen, 107. •• Vide infra, 55, &c.

tt The Sughak J ihen of Erdmann. Note 20. H Erdmann's Temujin,

^ Op. cit., 259.

48 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

assistance of Yissugci was sought by the celebrated Wang Khan of the
Keraits, the Prester John of so many romances, whose story will be told
in detail in the tenth chapter. He had been driven away from the throne
by his uncle Gur Khan. Yissugei marched to his assistance, drove
Gur Khan into Tangut, and replaced Wang Khan on the throne. The
latter, cap in hand, swore an eternal friendship to his benefactor, />., in
Mongol phrase, became anda or sworn friend.* Yissugei died in 1175.
According to the Saga of Ssanang Setzen, he was a victim to the
treachery of the Tartars, who one day asked him to take food in one of
their tents, and then mixed' poison with the meat.t He was succeeded
by his son Temudjin, who acquired a wide-world fame under his title of
Jingis Khan. His history forms the subject of the next chapter.

* D'Ohuon, i. 152. t Op. cit., 65.

CHAPTER III.

JINGIS KHAN.*

AMONG the men who have influenced the history of the world
Jingis Khan holds a foremost place. Popularly he is mentioned
with Attila and with Timur as one of the " Scourges of God."
One of those terrible conquerors whose march across the page of history
is figured by the shnile of a swarm of locusts or a fire in a Canadian
forest ; but this is doing gross injustice to Jingis Khan. Not only was
he a conqueror, a general whose consummate ability made him overthrow
every barrier that must intervene between the chief of a small barbarous
tribe of an obscure race and the throne of Asia, and this with a rapidity
and uniform success that can only be compared to the triumphant march
of Alexander. But he was far more than a conqueror. Alexander,
Napoleon, and Timur were all more or less his equals in the art of war.
But the colossal powers they created were merely hills of sand, that
crumbled to pieces as soon as they were dead ; with Jingis Khan matters
were very different, he organised the empire which he had conquered so
that it long survived and greatly thrived after he was gone. In every
detail of social and political economy he was a creator, his laws and his
administrative rules are equally admirable and astounding to the student.
Justice, tolerance, discipline, virtues that make up the modem ideal of a
state, were taught and practised at his court. And when we remember
that he was bom and educated in the desert, and that he had neither
the sages of Greece nor of Rome to instruct him, that unlike Charlemagne
and Alfred he could not draw his lessons from a past, whose evening
glow was still visible in the horizon, we are tempted to treat as exag-
gerated the history of his times, and to be sceptical of so much political
insight having been bom of such unpromising materials.

It is not creditable to English literature that no satisfactory account of
Jingis Khan exists in the language. Baron D'Ohsson in French, and
Erdmann in German, have both, written minute and detailed accoimts of
him, but none such exist in English, although the subject has an epic

* J in Jingia, Juji, and other proper names ia to be sounded aa a couaotutnt, aa in Jupiter,
John, Ac, equivalent to the Gennan Dach.
G

50 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

grandeur about it that might well tempt some well-grounded scholar like
Colonel Yule to try his hand upon it. We have seen how he received
the name of Temudjin. According to the vocabulary attached to the
history of the Yuen dynasty, translated from the Chinese by Hyacinthe,
Temudjin means the best iron or steel. The name has been confounded
with Temurdji, which means a smith in Turkish. Thi» accounts for the
tradition related by Pachymeres, Novairi, William of Ruysbrok, the
Armenian Haiton, and others that Jingis Khan was originally a smith.*

The Chinese historians and Ssanang Setzen place his birth in 1162;
Raschid and the Persians in 1155. The latter date is accommodated to
the fact that they make him seventy-two years old at his death in 1237, but
the historian of the Yuen dynasty, the Kangmu, and Ssanang Setzen
are all agreed that he died at the age of sixty-six, and they are much more
likely to be right.t Mailla says he had a piece of clotted blood in his
fist when bom, no bad omen, if true, of his future career. According to
De Guignes, Karachar Nevian was named his tutor. Ssanang Setzen
has a story that his father set out one day to find him a partner among
the relatives of his wife, the Olchonods, and that on the way he was met
by Dai Setzen, the chief of the Kunkurats, who thus addressed him : —
<< Descendant of the Kiyots, and of the race of the Bordshigs, whither
hiest thou ?" " I am seeking a bride for my son," was his reply. Dai
Setzen then said that he recently had a dream, during which a white
falcon had alighted on his hand. '^ This," he said, " Bordshig, was your
token. From ancient days our daughters have been wedded to the
Bordshigs, and I now have a daughter named Burte who is nine years
old. I will give her to thy son." " She is too young," he said ; but
Temudjin, who was present, urged that she would suit him by-and-by.
The bargain was thereupon closed, and having taken a draught of kumiss .
and presented his host with two horses, Yissugei returned home.{

On his father's death Temudjin was only thirteen years old ; an age
that seldom carries authority in the desert, where the chief is expected to
ccnmiand, and his mother acted as regent This enabled several of the
tribes which had submitted to the strong hand of Yissugei to reassert
their independence. The Taidshuts, under their leaders Terkutai, named
'KirHtuk, i,e., the spiteful, the great grandson of Hemukai, and his nephew
Kurul Behadur, were the first to break away, and they were soon after
joined by one of Yissugei's generals with a considerable following.
To the reproaches of Temudjin, the latter answered, '* The deepest weQs
are sometunes dry, and the hardest stones sometimes split ; why should
I cling to thee ? " Temudjitfs mother, we are told, mounted her horse,
and taking the Royal Standard called Tuk (this was mounted with
the tails of the Yak or mountain cow, or in default with that of a horse ;
it is the Tau or Tu of the Chinese, used as the Imperial Standard,

* D*OhMon, i. 36. f D^Ohtaon, L 38. Note. I Sauuuig Setsen, 63.

JIVGIS KHAN. |i

and canfenrad as a token of royahy upon their vassals, the Tartar
Princes*) in her hand, she kd her people in pursuit of the fugitives^ and
bcought a good number of them back to their allegiance.t

After the dispersion of the Jelairs, to which I have previously referred,
fluany of them became the slaves and herdsmen of the Mongol royal
buaily. They were encamped near Sar^dhar, the Saligol of Hyacinthe^
in the district of Ulagai Bulak, which D'Ohsson identifies with the
Ulengaiy a tributary of the Ingoda, that rises in the watershed between
that river and the Onon.§ One day Tagudshar, a relative of Chamuka,
the chief of the Jadjerats, was himting in this neighbourhood, and tried
to lift the catde of a Jelair, named Ju)i Termele, who thereupon shot him.
This led to a long and bitter strife between Temudjin, n^io was the patron
of the Jelairs, and Chamuka. He was of the same stock as Temudjin,
and now joined the Taidshuta, with his tribe the Jadjerats. He also
pemiaded the Uduts and Ni^akias, the Kunilas and Inkixasses, to join
them.K

Teraudjin strugj^ in vain against this confederacy, and one day he
was taken prisoner by the Taidshuts. Terkutai fastened on faima fOMiue^
the instrument of torture used by the Chinese^ consisting «f two boaidi
which aie listened to the shoukiers, and wbea joined together round Urn
nedcform an effectual barrier to desertion. He one day found meaaa tB
escape while the Taidshuts were busy iieasting^ hid in apoad with hi«
aastrils only oat of water, was detected by a pursuer sunned Suxghan
Shiiah (by Ssaaaag Setzen, Torj^ian Shara). He belonged to the Suldoz
c2a% had pity on him, took him to his kouse^ hid him under some
wool in a cart, so that his piursuevs failed ta find him, and then sent him
to his own people. 51 This and other stories illustrate one {rfiase of Mongol
character. We seldom hear amoi^ them of those domestic murders sa
fteqoeat ia Turkish history ; pretenders to the throne were reduced to
servitude^ and generally made to perform menial offices, but seldom
murdered. They illustrate another fact; favours conferred in distress
were seldom forgotten, and the chroniclers fire^ently explain the rise of
tome obscure individual by the reodlection of a handsome thing 4one to
the nJer ia his unfortunate days.

Another phase of Mongol character, namely, the treachery and craft
with which tiiey attempt to overreach one another in war may be
iUnstxated l^ a short Saga told by Ssanang Setzen, and probably xelatix^
to this period of Tenuidjin's career. It is curious how circumstantial
aanjr of these traditions are. ''At that time,'' he says, ''Btdce Qiilger of
the Taidshuts dug a pitfall in his tent and covered it with felts. He then,
with his brothers, arranged a grand feast, to which Temudjin was invited
HiXb, fblaome phrases. 'Formerly we knew not dune excellence,' lie salc^

•^'niiMMi|iL#», Nolt. tBftinitiia.i«9. D»JCmilte,is.». ^J
ID^hMoii,i.4t« mrto. JUttM^ Jois, ii. 171. | Erdrnwiyfini -f tuning ScUcb, ^<

5i HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

'and lived in strife with thee. We have now learnt that thou art
not false, and that thou art a Bogda of the race of the gods. Our
old hatred is stifled and dead; condescend to enter our small house/
Temudjin accepted the invitation, but before going he was warned
by his mother : * Rate not the crafty foe too lightly,' she said. ' We do
not dread a venomous viper the less because it is so small and weak. Be
cautious.' He replied, * You are right, mother, therefore do you Khassar
have the bow ready. Belgutei, you also be on your guard. You,
Chadshikin, see to the horse, and you, Utsuken, remain by my side. My
nine Orloks* you go in with me, and you my three hundred and nine
body guards surround the yurt.' When he arrived he would have sat
down in the middle of the treacherous carpet, but Utsuken pulled him
aside and seated him on the edge of the felt. Meanwhile a woman was
meddling with the horse and cut off its left stirrup. Belgutei, who
noticed it, drove her out, and struck her on the leg with his hand, upon
which one Buri Buke struck Belgutei's horse with his sword. The nine
Orloks now came round, helped their master to mount the white mare of
Toktanga Taishi of the Kortshins, a fight began, which ended in the
defeat and submission of the enemy ."t Once more free, Temudjin, who
was now seventeen years old, married Burte Judjin, whose betrothal I
have already described.} He was not long in collecting a number of his
men together, and soon managed to increase their number to 13,000.
These he divided into thirteen battalions of 1,000 men each, styled gurans
(1./., rings ; compare the rings among the Avares), each guran under the
command of a gurkhan.§ The gurkhans were chosen from his immediate
relatives and dependents. The forces of the Taidshuts numbered 30,000.
With this much more powerful army Temudjin risked an encounter on
the banks of the Baldjuna, a tributary of the Ingoda, and gained a
complete victory. Abulghazi says the Taidshuts lost from 5,000 to 6,000
men. The battle-field was close to a wood, and we are told that Temudjin,
after his victory, piled faggots together and boiled many of his prisoners
in seventy cauldrons. || A very problematical story.

Among his neighbours were the Jadjerats or Juriats,ir the subjects of
Chamuka, who, according to De Guignes, fled after the battle with the
Taidshuts, just described. One day a body of the Jadjerats, who were
hunting, encoimtered some of Temudjin's . followers, and they agreed
to hunt together. The former ran short of provisions, and he
generously surrendered to them a large part of the game his people had
captured. This was favourably compared by them with the harsh
behaviour of their suzereigns, the Taidshut princes, and two of their

* The nine Orloks were the nine principal officers of Temudjin. They are enumerated in
an old saga describing a feast in which he and his nine Orloks were engaged. Ssanang
Betsen, 381. Note 30.

t Bsanang Betxen, 8x. % Bsanang Betxen, 69.

I On these ntmea see Brdmann, Temndijin, note 50, and Von Hammer, Golden Horde, fe^.

I Brdmann^ 261-3. f Tchaoliei of De ICaiUa.

JINGIS KHAN, 53

chiefs, named Ulugh Behadur (the Yulu of De Mailla) and Thugai Talu,
with many of the tribe went to join Temudjin. They were shortly after
attacked and dispersed by the Taidshuts. This alarmed or disgusted
several of the tatter's allies^ who went over to the party of Temudjin^
Among these were Chamuka, who contrived for a while to hide his
rancour, and the chiefs of the Suldus and Basiuts.* Their example wais
soon followed by the defection of the Barins and the Telenkuts^ a branch
of the Jelairs.t

Temudjin's repute was now considerable, and De Mailla tells us
that wishing to secure the friendship of Podu, chief of the Kieliei, or
or Ykiliesse (Gaubil 9), t.e,, the Kurulats, who lived on the river Ergone,
!>., the Argun,} and who was renowned for his skill in archery, he offered
him his sister Termulun in marriage. This was gladly accepted, and
the two became fast friends. As a sign of his goodwill, Podii
wished to present Temudjin with fifteen horses out of thirty which he
possessed, but the latter replied, " To speak of giving and taking is to do
as merchants and traffickers, and not allies. Our elders tell us it is
difficult to have one heart and one sotd in two bodies. It is this difficult
thing I wish to compass, I mean to extend my power, over my neigh-
bours here, I only ask that the people of Kieliei shall aid me."$ Temudjin
now gave a grand feast on the banks of the Onon, and distributed
decorations among his brothers. To this were invited Sidsheh Bigi,
chief of the Burgins or Barins, his own mother, and two of his step-
mothers. A skin of kumiss, or fermented milk, was sent to each of the
latter, but with this distinction. In the case of the eldest, called Kakurshin
Khatun, it was for herself and her family ; in that of the younger, for
herself alone. This aroused the envy of the former, who gave Sichir, the
master of the ceremonies, a considerable blow. The undignified dis-
turbance was winked at by Temudjin, but the quarrel was soon after
enlarged^ One of Kakiu*shin's dependents had the temerity to strike
Bdgutei, the half-brother of Temudjin, and wounded him severely in the
shoulder, but Belgutei pleaded for him. " The wound has caused me ho
tears. It is not seemly that my quarrels should inconvenience you," he
said. Upon this Temudjin sent and counselled them to live at peace with
one another, but Sidsheh Bigi soon after abandoned him with his Barins.
He was apparently a son of Kakurshin Khatun, and therefore a step-
brother of Temudjin.] About 11 94, Temudjin heard that one of the
Taidshut chiefs, caUed Mutchin Sultu, had revolted against Madagu, the
Kin Emperor of China, who had sent his Chinsang (prime minister)
Wan-jan-siang, with an army against him. He eagerly volunteered his
services against the old enemies of his people, and was successful He

* The Urdnti and Bnrdutt of Von Hammer. t Erdmann, 263-5. I^e ICailla, zt, 12.

I Ganbil Hist det ICong., 3. Note 2. % De Mailla, ix. 14.

I De Hailla, is. 25, z6. Erdmann, a68.

t4 HISTORY OF THS MONGOLS.

killed the claef and capCnred much booty. Ini^r alia was a silver cradle
vxdi a covering of giriden tissue, sttch as the Mongx^ had never befeie
aecB. M a rewaid lor his services he received from the Qunese officer
the title cf Jant-yoiEiy written Tcha-u-tii-Iu in Hyacinthe, who says k
flieans commander against the rebels. According to Raschi^ on thft
same occasion Tuhii, the chief of the Keraits, was invested with the title of
Wang (t>.y king).* On his return from this expedidcm, desiring to jenew
his intercourse with the Barins, he sent them a portion of the Tartar
booty. The beaiers of this present were ms^treated. Maiila, lAio
describes the event somewhat dtfierently, says that ten of the messengecs
were hilled by Sidsheh Bigi, to revenge the indignities that had been pixt on
his £nnily. Temudjin now marched against the Barins, defeated them at
Thulan Bc^dak (Tielito ni MaiUa). Their two chie& escaped. According
to Mailla th^ were put to death^t

In 1196 Temndjin recdved a visit from Wang Khan, the Kerait dne^
who was then* in distress. His brother Ilkah Sengun, better known as
Jagampu Keratti, had driven him from the throne. He first sought
assistance from the chief ef Kara Khitai, and when that failed him, tunwd
to Temndjin, the son of his old friend. Wang Khan was a chief of graat
consequence, and this appeal must have been flatteriiig to him, he levied a
contribution of cattle from his subjects to feast lum with^ and promised
Um the devotion of a son in consideration of his ancient friendsh^ mth
Yissugei.

Temudjin was now, says Mailla, one of the most powerful princes of
these parts, and he determined to subjugate the Kieliei {ue^ the inhabitants
of the Argun, to whom I have already referred), but he was defeated.
Dtffing the action, having been Ittt )ay twelve arrows, he Hell from his
horse unconscious, when Bogordshi and Burgul (Portchi and Mouholi of
Mailla) at some risk took him out of the struggle. While the former
melted the snow with some hot stones and bathed him with it, so as to
free his throat from the blood, the latter, during the long winter ni^t,
covered him with his own cloak from the falling snow. He would, never-
tiieless, have Cured badly if his mother had not collected a band of his
father's troops and come to his assistance, together with Tului, the
Kerait chie^ who remembered the favours he had received from
Temu^jin's £ither.t Mailla ss^s, that returning home with aiew foUowen^
he was atUcked by a band of robbers. He was accon^anied by a famous
crossbowman, named Soo, to whom he had given the name of Mei;£^ieAi
While the robbers were within ear^shot, Meighen shouted, *' There aro
two wild ducks, a male and a female^ which shall I bring down.'' '^ The
male,'' said Temu4jin. He had scarcely said so when down it came. This
was too much for the robbers, who dared not measure themselves against
such victims.§ The Merkits had recently made a raid upon his territory,

<'D'01iMon,i.'4^ Vote. t Brdnuum, 168. D»iC«iUm:ii.X7.

I Wolff, ^. ^^Dt^liMUm ik. 19.

JINGIS KUAN. 55^

and carrkd off his &vourite wife Bnrte Judjin. It was after her mtum
finm licr captivity that she gave birth to her elder son, Juji, about whose
kgilimaqr theze seems to have been some doubt in his fiither^s
mind. It was to revenge this that he now (1197) marched against
them, and defeated them near the river Mundsheh (a river Mandzin is still
t*- be found in the canton Karas M^iren) * He abandoned all the
boaty to Wang Khan. The latter, through the influence of Temudjin,
OBoe more regained his throne, and the following year (1198) he had aa
ej^edttion on his own account against the Merkits, and beat them at a
place named Buker Gehesh^f but he did not reciprocate the generosity of
his ally.

In 1199 the two friends made a joint expedition against the Naimans.
The latter were now divided betwe^ two brothers, who had quarrelled
^XMit their Other's concubine. One of them, named Buyuruk, had
letiied with a body of the people to the Kiziltash mountains. The other,
called Baibttka, but generally referred to by his Chinese title of Taiwang,
or Tayai^, remained in his own proper country. It was the latter who
was now attacked by die two allies, and forced to escape to the country
of Kem Kemdjut {Le^ towards the sources of the Yenissei). Chamuka,
the chief of the Jadjerats, well named Satchan, or the crafty, still retained
hb hatred for Temudjin. He now whispered in the ear of Wang Khan
thai his adly was only a iairweather friend. Like the wild goose, he flew
anaiy m winter, while he himself, like the snow<bird, was constant under
aM circumstances. These and other suggestions aroused the jealousy id
Wan|^ Khan, who suddenly withdrew with his forces, and left Temudjin
ia the enemy's country. The latter was thereupon forced to retire also.
He went to the river Sali or Sari.^ Gugsu Seirak, the Naiman general,
weat in pursuit, defeated Wai^ Khan in his own territory, and captured
mach booty. Wang Khan was hard pressed, and was perhaps only
saved by the timely succour sent by Temudjin, which drove away the
Nasnans. Once more did the latter abandon the captured booty to his
tieadienNis ally. After the victory, he held a Kuriltai, on the plains of
Sad or Sali, to which Wang Khan was invited, and at which it was
resolved to renew the war against the Taidshuts in the following year.
The latter were in alliance with the Merkits, whose chief, Tukta, had
sent a contingent, commanded by his brothers, to their help. The two
friends attacked them on the banks of the river Onon.i Raschid says
in the country of Onon (<>., the great desert of Mongolia). | The
confederates were beaten. Terkutai Kiriltuk and Kududar, the two
leaders of the Taidshuts, vrere pursued and overtaken at Lengut
Nuramen, where they were both killed. Another of their leaders, with
the two chiefs of the Merkits, fled to BurghudshinlT (i^^ Burgusin on
Lake Baikal), while the fourth found refuge with the Naimans.

* Erdmann. l<rote75. t Erdinaiin,27z. X 'DtHMSXUtix.t^,

I De ICailU, iz. 23. | D*OIiuoii, 1. 61. ITote. % Erdnuuis, 275.

56 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

This victory aroused the jealousy of cerlain tribes which were as yet
independent of Temudjin, namely, the Kunkurats, Durbans, Jelairs,
Katakins, Saldjuts, and Taidshuts, and they formed a confederacy to put
him down. We are told that their chiefs met at a place called Aru Bulak,
and sacrificed a horse, a bull, a ram, a dog, and a stag, and striking with
their swords, swore thus : *' Heaven and earth hear our oaths, we swear
by the blood of these animals, which are the chiefs of their races, that we
wish to die like them if we break our promises." The plof was disclosed
to Temudjin by his father-in-law, Dai Setzen, a chief of the Kunkurats.
He repaired to his ally, Wang Khan, and the two marched against the
confederates, and defeated them near the Lake Bujrur. He afterwards
attacked some confederated Taidshuts and Merkits on the plain of
Timurkin (/.^., of the river Timur or Temir) and defeated them. Mean-
while the Kunkurats, afraid of resisting any longer, marched to submit to
him. His brother, Juji Kassar, not knowing their errand, unfortunately
attacked them, upon which they turned aside and joined Chamuka.*

That inveterate enemy of Temudjin had at an assembly of the tribes,
Inkirasses, Kurulasses, Taidshuts, Katakins, and Saldjuts, held in 1201,
been elected Gurkhan. They met near a river, called Kieiho by Mailla,
Kian by Hyacinthe, and Kem by Raschid,t and then adjourned to the
Tula, where they made a solemn pact praying that " whichever of them
was unfaithful to the rest might be like the banks of that river which the
water ate away, and like the trees of a forest when they are cut into
faggots.*' This pact was disclosed to Temudjin by one of his friends who
was present, named Kuridai. He marched against them, and defeated
them at a place north of the Selinga, called Ede Kiurghan, i,e,^ site of the
grave mounds. t Chamuka fled, and the Kunkurats submitted.}

In the spring of 1202, Temudjin set out to attack the tribes Antshi and
Tshagan.l These were doubtless the subjects of Wangtshuk and
Tsaghan, mentioned by Ssanang Setzen. They were probably Tun-
gusian tribes. The western writers tell us that Temudjin gave orders
to his soldiers to follow up the beaten enemy, without caring about the
booty, which should be fairly divided among them. His relatives, Kudsher,
Daritai, and Altun, having disobeyed, were deprived of their share,
and became, in consequence, his secret enemies.T Ssanang Setzen has
much more detail, and his narrative is interesting because, as Schmidt
suggests, it apparently contains the only account extant of the conquest
df the tribes of Manchuria. He says, that while Temudjin was hawking
between the river Olcho (a river Olcoui, rising in the Soyoldji, a branch
of the Khinggan mountains, about the forty-seventh parallel of latitude, is
mentioned by D'Ohsson, i. 64), and the Ula (probably the Nonni Ula).

* Brdmann, 379. D'Ohason, i. 62. t Erdnumn. Note 108. I Wolfi; 41. Note.

S D'Ohssoa, i. 65. | Hyacinthe quoted by Brdmtim. Note 1x4.

If Brdmann, a8o, 381.

5;

JINGIS KHAN. 57

Wangtshuk Khakan, of the Dschurtschid (/V., of the Niutchi Tartars of
Manchuria), had retired from there. Temudjin was angry, and went to
assemble his army to attack the enemy's capital. But as a passage was
forbidden him across the river Ula, and the road was blockaded, the son of
Toktanga Baghatur Taidshi, named Andun Ching Taidshi, coupled ten
thousand horses together by their bridles, and pressed into the river,
forced a passage, and the army then began to besiege the town.
Temudjin sent word to Wangtshuk, and said: " If you will send me ten
thousand swallows and one thousand cats then I will cease attacking the
town," upon which the required number was procured. Temudjin
fastened some lighted wool to the tail" of each and then let them go ;
then the swallows flew to their nests in the houses, and the cats climbed
and jumped on the roofs ; the city was fired, by which means Temudjin
conquered Wangtshuk Khakan, and took his daughter Salichai for his
wife. He then marched further eastwards to the river Unegen, but he
found it had overflowed its banks, whereupon he did not cross it but sent
envoys to Tsaghan Khakan (? the tribe Tsagan mentioned iif the
western accounts, vide supra) of the Solongus, /.<• , of the Solons. "Bring
ine tribute, or we must fight," he said ; upon which Tshaghan Khakan
was frightened, sent him a daughter of Dair Ussun, named Khulan
Goa, with a tent decorated with panther skins, and gave him the tribes
of Solongos and Bughas as a dowry, upon which he assisted Tshaghan
Khakan, so that he brought three provinces of the Solongos under his
authority.*

Ssanang Setzen at this point introduces one of those quaint Sagas,
which however mythical in themselves, are true enough to the peculiar
mode of thought of the Mongols to make them very instructive. The
Saga runs thus :— During a three years' absence of her husband, Burte
Judjin sent Arghassun Churtshi (/'.f., Arghassun the lute player) to him ;
when the latter was introduced, he spoke thus : — ** Thy wife, Burte
Judjin Khatun, thy princely children, the elders and princes of thy
kingdom, all are well. The eagle builds his nest in a high tree ; at times
he grows careless in the fancied security of his high-perched home ; then
even a small bird will sometimes come and plunder it and eat the eggs
and young brood: so it is with the swan whose nest is in the sedges on
the lake. It, too, trusts too confidently in the dark thickets of reeds. Yet
prowling w^ater-falcons will sometimes come and rob it of eggs and
young ones. This might happen to my revered lord himself" These
words aroused Temudjin from his confident air. "Thou hast spoken
truly," he said, and he hied him on his way homewards. But when some
distance still from home he began to grow timid. " Spouse of my young
days, chosen for me by my noble father, how dare I face thee home-
tarrying Burte Judjin, after living with Chulan (/.^., the Chulan Goa

* Ssanabg Sebcen, 75.

•-< 1

58 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

already named), whom I came across in my journey, it would be shameful
to seem unfriendly in the assembly of the people. One of you nine Orloks
hie you to Burte Judjin and speak for me." Mukuli, of the Jelair
tribe, volunteered, and when he came to her, delivered this message: —
" Beside protecting my own lands I have looked around also elsewhere.
I have not followed the counsel of the greater and lesser lords. On the
contrary, I have amused myself with the variegated colours of a tent
hung with panther skins. Distant people to rule over I have taken Chulan
to be my wife ; the Khan has sent me to tell you this.'' His wife
seems to have understood the enigmatical phrases, for Setzen says, "Tlic
sensible ! Burte Judjin thus replied, * The wish of Burte Judjin and of the
whole people is that the might of our sovereign may be increased. It
rests with him whom he shall befriend or bind himself to. In the reedy
lakes there are many swans and geese. If it be his wish to shoot arrows
at them until his finger be weary, who shall complain? So also there are
mai^y girls and women among our people. It is for him to say who the
choicest and luckiest are. I hope he will take to himself both a new wife
and a new house. That he will saddle the untractable horse. Health
and prosperity are not wearisome, nor are disease and pain desirable,
says the proverb. May the golden girth of his house be immortal '" (/./.,
may the band that binds the felts and spars of the yurt never decay, in
other words, may he ever be prosperous, a favourite Mongol wish).

When he arrived at home he discovered that Arghassun had appro-
priated his golden lute, upon which he ordered Boghordshi and Mukuli
to kill him. They seized him, gave him two skins full of strong drink, and
then went to the Khan, who had not yet risen. Boghordshi spake
outside the tent: **The light already shines^ in your Ordu. We
await your commands, that is, if your effulgent presence, having
cheerfully awoke, has risen from its couch I The dayhght already
shines. Condescend to open the door to hear and to judge the
repentant culprit, and to exercise your favour and clemency." The
Khan now arose and permitted Arghassun to enter, but he did not speak
to him. Boghordshi and Mukuli gave him a signal with their lips. The
culprit then began: "While the seventy-tuned Tsaktsaghai unconcernedly
sings tang, tang, the hawk hovers over and pounces suddenly upon him
and strangles him before he can bring out his last note jang. So did
my lord's wrath fall on me and has unnerved me. For twenty years have
I been in your household but have not yet been guilty of dishonest
trickery. It is true I love smoked drink, but dishonesty I have not in
my thought. For twenty years have I been in your household but I have
hot practised knavery. I love strong drink, but am no trickster." Upon
which Temudjin ejaculated, " My loquacious Arghassun, my chattering
Churtchi," and pardoned him.

Temudjin noi^ seems to have been master of the country generally
known as Eastern Dauria^ watered by the Onon, the Ingoda, the Argun,

JINGIS KHAN. * 59

and also of the tribes of Tungusic race that lived on the Nonni and the
Upper Amur. The various victims of his prowess began to gather together
for another effort. Among these were Tukta, the ch ief of Merkits, with the
Naiman leader, Buyuruk Khan, the tribes Durban, Katagun, Saldjut,'
and Uirat, the last of whom were clients of the Naimans.* Wang Khan
was then in alliance with him. At the approach of the enemy they
retired into the mountains Caraun Qiidun, in the Khinggan chain, on the
frontiers of China, where they were pursued. The pursuers were terribly
harassed by the ice and snow, which Mailla said was produced by one
of their own Shamans, or necromancers, and which proved more hurtful
to them than to the Mongols, f Many of them perished, and when they
issued from the defiles they were too weak to attack the two allies. The
latter spent the winter at Altchia Kungur (a small river Kung^r flows
into Lake Taal, about 43 deg. N.L.)J Here their two families were
united b> mutual betrothals; as these, however, broke down ill-
feeling was aroused between them, and Chamuka had an opportunity
of renewing his intrigues. He suggested that Temudjin had secret com-
munications with the Naimans, and was not long in arousing the jealousy
of Wang Khan and his son Sengun. They attempted unsuccessfully to
assassinate him, but he was warned in time. He now collected an army
and marched against the Keraits. His army were very inferior in
numbers, but attacked the enemy with ardour. Wang Khan's bravest
tribe, the Jirkirs, turned their backs, while the Tunegkaits were defeated,
but numbers nevertheless prevailed, and Temudjin was forced to fly.
This battle, which is renowned in Mongol history, was fought at a place
called Kalanchin Alt. Raschid says this place is near the country of
the Niuchis, not far from the river Olkui. Some of the Chinese authorities
call it Khalagun ola, and Hala chon, and D'Ohsson surmises that it is
that part of the Khinggan chain from which /low the southern affluents
of the Kalka, one of which is called Halgon in D'Anville's map. Mailla,
however, distinctly places it between the Tula and the Onon, which is
probably right. § Abandoned by most of his troops, he fled to the desert
Baldjuna, where he was reduced to great straits (D'Ohsson says that
a lake Baldjuna, whence flows the Tura, a tributary of the Ingoda, is
found in the plateau north of the Onon). Here are still found many
grave mounds, and the Buriats relate that this retired place, protected on
the north by woods and mountains, was formerly an asylum | A few firm
friends accompanied him. They were afterwards known as Baldjunas,
a name compared by Von Hammer with that of Mohadshirs, borne by
the companions of Mahomet's early misfortunes. IT Two shepherds, named
Kishlik and Badai, who had iiiformed him of Wang Khan's march, were
created Terkhans.**

* Eidmaan. aSx. t De ICailla, ix. 26. I D'Ohsaoo, i. 67. Note.

i De iCaiUa, op. dt. iz. 54. | Wo]flr43. Ritter*s Aait, ii. 372-2^

% Voo Hammer, Golden Horde, 65. ** D*Oha«on, i. 72.

66 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Having been a fugitive for some time, Temudjin at length moved to the
south-east, to the borders of Lake Kara, into which flows the river Uldra,
there he was joined by some Kunkurats, and he once more moved on to
the sacred Mongol lake, the Dalai Nur.* Thence he indited the following
pathetic letter to Wang Khan:—

" I. O Khan, my father, when your uncle, the Gur Khan, drove you for
having usurped the throne of Buyuruk, and for having killed your brothers
Tatimur Taidshi and Buka Timur, to take refuge at Keraun Kiptchak (the
Garavoun Gabdjal of D'Ohsson), where you were beleagfured, did not
my father come to your rescue, drive out, and force the Gur Khan to take
refuge in Ho Si (the country west of the Hoangho), whence he returned
not ? Did you not then become Anda (/.^., sworn friend) with my father,
and was not this the reason I styled you father ?

" 2. When you were driven away by the Naimans, and your brother,
Ilkah Sengun, had retired to the far east, did I not send for him back
again, and when he was attacked by the Merkits, did I not attack and
defeat them ? Here is a second reason for your gratitude.

" 3. When in your distress you came to me with your body peering
through your tatters, like the sun through the clouds, and worn out with
hunger, you moved languidly like an expiring flame, did I not attack
the tribes who molested you ; present you with abundance of sheep and
horses ? You came to me haggard. In a fortnight you were stout and
well-favoured again. Here is a third service we have done you.

" 4. When you defeated the Merkits so severely at Buker Gehreh, you
gave me none of the booty, yet shortly after, when you were hard pressed
by the Naimans, I sent four of my best generals to your assistance, who
restored you the phinder that had been taken from you. Here is the
fourth good office.

" 5. I pounced like a Jerfalcon on to the mountain Jurkumen, and
thence over the lake Buyur, and I captured for you the cranes with blue
claws and grey plumage, that is to say, tlie Durbans and Taidshuts.
Then I passed the lake Keule. There I took the cranes with blue feet,
that is, the Katakins, Saldjuts, and Kunkurats. This is the fifch service
I have done you.

**6. Do you not remember, O Khan, my fatiier, how on the river Kara,
near the Mount Jurkan, we swore that if a snake glided between us, and
envenomed our words, we would not listen to it until we had received
some explanation ; yet you suddenly left me without asking me to
explain.

"7. O Khan, my father, why suspect me of ambition.^ I have not said
* My part is too small, I want a greater;' or * It is a bad one, I want a
better.' When one wheel of a cart breaks, and the ox tries to drag it, it
only hurts its neck. If we then detach the ox, and leave the vehicle, the

• Wolff, 44.

JINGIS KHAN. 6l

thieves come and take the load. If we do not unyoke it, the ox will die
of hunger. Am I not one wheel of thy chariot ? "

With this letter Temudjin sent a request that the black gelding of
Mukuli Behadur, with its embroidered and plated saddle and bridle, which
had been lost on the day of their struggle, might be restored to him ; he
also asked that messengers might be sent to treat for a peace between
them.

Another letter was sent to his uncle Kudshir, and to his cousin
Altun.

This letter is interesting, because it perhaps preserves for us some
details of what took place at the accession of Jingis. It is well known
that the Mongol Khans affected a coy resistance when asked to become
chief. The letter runs thus : — " You conspired to kill me, yet from the
beginning did I tell the sons of Bartam Behadur {i.e., his grandfather), as
well as Satcha (his cousin), and Taidju (his uncle). Why does our
territory on the Onon remain without a master ? I tried to persuade you
to rule over our tribes. You refused. I was troubled. I said to you,
'Kudshir, son of Tekun Taishi, be our Khan.' You did not listen to me;
and to you, Altun, I said, * You are the son of Kutluk Khan (the Kubilai
of D'Ohsson), who %vas our ruler. You be our Khan/ You also refused,
and when you pressed it on me, saying, * Be you our chief,' I submitted to
your request, and promised to preserve the heritage and customs of our
fathers. Did I intrigue for power? I was elected unanimously to prevent
the country, ruled over by our fathers near the three rivers, passing to
strangers. As chief of a numerous people, I thought it proper to make
presents to those attached to me. I captured many herds, yurts, women,
and children, which I gave you. I enclosed for you the game of the
steppe, and drove towards you the mountain game. You now serve Wang
Khan, but you ought to know that he is fickle. Yoti sec how he has
treated me. He will treat you even worse."*

Wang Khan was disposed to treat, but his son Sengun said matters
had gone too far, and they must fight it out. We now find Wang Khan
quarrelling with several of his dependents, whom he accused of conspiring
against him. Temudjin*s intrigues were probably at the bottom of the
matter. The result was that Dariti Utshegin, with a tribe of Mongols,
and the Sakiat tribe of the Keraits, went over to Temudjin, while Altun
and Kudshir, the latter^s relations, who had deserted him as I . have
described, took refuge with the Naimans.t

Among the companions of his recent distress, a constant one was his
brother Juji Kassar, who had also suffered severely, and had had his
Camp, &c., pillaged by the Keraits. Temudjin had recourse to a ruse*
He sent two servants who feigned to have come from Juji, and who
offered his submission on condition that his wife and children were

* D'Ohwon, h 78. t Erdmann, ag5.

64 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

admitted the justice of this punishment, which he would himself have
meted out if he had been successful.

D'Ohsson says that Temudjin had now conquered enough of men,
cattle, and pastures, and his eyes turned to the capture of richer booty
in the south, the former hunting ground of many nomade tribes. His
first venture was made upon Tangut, the Hia of the Chinese writers. The
kingdom had been previously known as that of Ho Si, i.e.j west of the
river (corrupted by the Mongols into Kaschin). When Temudjin con-
quered it the name Kaschin was given to his youthful grandson, a son
of Ogotai^s, who was born at the time, and on his death the name was
changed to Tangut. The Mongols first captured a strong fort named
Liki (Lairi of Hyacinth's Histor>' of the Yuen),* and having razed it to the
ground, took the town of Lung-si-hien (Asagitgelus of Erdmann), and in
it a large iDooty, v/ith which he returned to the desert.t This expedition
was made in 1205. De Mailla here tells a quaint stor>', "As Temudjin
returned from Hia he met a child in charge of some sheep. This child
had put a stick in the ground and his cap upon it, and was dancing and
singing around it. Temudjin, whose curiosity was tickled, asked him
why he did thus. * When one is alone,' said the child, * having no com-
panion but one's cap, one ought to respect //. If there are two persons
together, the younger ought to pay respect to the elder. As I was alone
I did it to my cap. I heard you were about to pass, and I thought I
would practice the ceremonies due to you when you should arrive.'"
Temudjin took the child home and had him brought up in his tent.

He had now reached a memorable epoch in his life ; north of the desert
he had subdued all t,he turbulent and lawless tribes that stretched from
the Irtish to the Khinggan mountains. He had destroyed all his
rivals, apd we are told that in the spring of 1206 he summoned a Kuriltai
near the sources of the Onon ; on this spot was planted a standard com-
posed of nine white tuks (/V, Yak-tails, one for each of the nine Orloks)
placed one over the other, around this were collected the chiefs of the
different tribes. A Shaman named Gueukdju, who was surnamed But
Tengri, or Image of God, now came forward and declared solemnly that
having conquered so many Gur Khans, />., " chief Khans," he could not
adopt that humbled title, and that heaven decreed to him the title of
Jingis Khan, or the "Ver>' Mighty Khan." He was therefore saluted
under that name by the different chiefs. He was now forty-four years of
age, or according to Raschid fifty-one.

Ssanang Setzen has a queer tale to tell of the origin of the name Jingis.
He says that in 11 89, when Temudjin was forty-eight years old, he was
proclaimed Khakan on the banks of the river Kerulon. For three mornings
before the ceremony, a five-coloured bird, in shape like a lark, came
and sat on a squared stone in front of the royal yurt, and screamed out

• D'Ohsson, i. 97. Note. t DelfailU, ix.40.

JINGIS KHAN. 65

Jingis,^Jingis, which he thereupon adopted as his middle name, his title
in full being Sutu Bogda Jingis Khakan. There then appeared in the
midst of the stone the seal called Chas Boo. This seal was a span in
length and breadth. On its lower face was a turtle, and in the back of
the latter two dragons were interlaced. On this truly Mongol legend
Erdmann has the cynical comment, " En Cor Zenodoti en jecur Cratetis."*
The legend goes on to say that it was now that Temudjin gave his
people the name of Koke Mongol, /V., Blue or Celestial Mongols.t Ssanang
Setzen says they had hitherto been called Bed^, butj as I have shown, the
name Mongol is of much older date. Guekdju the Shaman had
gained great credit among the Mongols, and even persuaded them he
sometimes mounted to h^ven on a grey horse. He now became trouble-
some to Temudjin, to whom he was aggressively impertinent. The latter
grew weary of him, and ordered him to be killed. Juji Kassar, we are
told, kicked him out of the tent and then put him to death. After the
dissolution of the Kuriltai, Jingis (as we shall now call him) marched
against the Naimans. On the death of Tayang Khan, his brother
Buyuruk, who had divided the heritage with and now succeeded him, was
with his people hunting in the Ulug Tag mountains (the Urtu-ola of the
Chinese — they form the western continuation of the Little Altai west of
the Balkash Sea) near the river Sudja. Here he was attacked and killed
by some supporters of Jingis, his wife and baggage fell into the victor's
hands, while his nephew Gushluk and the irrepressible Khan of the
Merkits fled towards the land watered by the Irtish. As the people of
Hia had failed to send the promised tribute, he ordered a fresh expedition
against them. This was in 1207. This expedition captured the town of
Wuhlahai, and returned with much booty. | " Wuhlahai gave its name to
one of the seven lu of the Mongolian period, including Tangut or
Kansuh.' It was probably the kingdom of Egrigaia of Marco Polo." §
Jingis Khan now called upon the Kirghises and Kem Kcmdjuts who
lived north of the Naimans to do homage. Their two chiefs are called
Idymere and Aldar by Hyacinthe,|| Yetici Ynali and Alitiei by Mailla.
One of the names is wanting in the MSS. of Raschid. The other is
called Urns Inal by him. IT Ssanang Setzen calls him Orodshu Schiguschi
and his people Oirad Buriad.** Burut is still a well-known synonym for
the black or proper Kirghises. The two chiefs agreed to do homage, and
sent Jingis a present of some Jerfalcons.tt

In the autumn of 1208 Jingis pursued Gushluk andTukta in the direction
of the Irtish. On the way the tribe Oirat, called Ouayla by Mailla JJ
(Girat is a synonym for the Telenguts or White Kalmuks of the Irtish),
submitted to him, and their chief volunteered to guide his army. The

• Erdmann, 309, and Note 179. t See Wolff, 47« Ssanang Setzen, 71.

I Erdmann, 311. De Mailla, ix. 42. ^ Porter Smith's Vocabulary, 63.

I Erdmann, Note, 183. f D'Ohsson, i. 103. Note. •• Op. cit.,75.
tt D'Ohsson, i. X04. 11 Op. cit., ix. 42.

I

66 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

fugitives were overtaken near the Kem, ue., the upper Irtish. Tukta the
Merkit chief was killed, Gushluk escaped to Kara Khitai. Soon after he
received the submission of Bardjuk the Idikut or king of the Uighurs ; he
was a tributary of Kara Khitai, but in 1209 had murdered the deputy of
that empire, named Shukem ; when in expectation of dire punishment
he heard of the great successes of Jingis, he hastened to recognise him.
In the fulsome Eastern panegyric he wrote " As when the clouds break
and disclose the sun burning with renewed lustre, as the cracking ice
displays the pure blue stream below, so did thy arrival fill me with
delight and with the hope of deliverance."* Jingis Khan received this
message with courtesy, and sent word back that he wished the Idikut to
go to him in person with the richest object in his treasury. The latter
despatched a valuable bag full of pearls and other gifts, but does not
appear to have gone himself.t

In 1209 he commenced another campaign by penetrating into Kan-su,
then dependent on the kingdom of Hia, whose king, Li-ngan-tsuen, sent
his son with an army to oppose him, but he was beaten, and Kao-ling-
Kong, his Lieutenant- General, was made prisoner. The Mongols then
captured Uiraka (/>., the passage through the wall — Raschid calls it
Erica, and in another place Erlaca,t and it is probably the Egrigaia of
Marco Polo),§ they then took the fortress of I-men, crossed
the Hoangho, and laid siege to Nin hia fu, then called Chung
hing, the capital of Hia (the Calatia of Marco Polo— it was for-
merly also called Hwai Yuen),|| but the inhabitants opened the dykes
of the river and flooded their camp. The Mongols then sent messengers
into the city to treat. The king of Hia agreed to acknowledge their
supremacy, and surrendered one of his daughters, who was sent to the
harem of Jingis.^ On his return to his yurt he found the Idikut of the
Uighurs, Arslan Khan, chief of the Karliks (/>., the Turks of iCayalik),
and Ozar, prince of Almalig, who had come to do him homage. Arslan
. Khan had recently followed the example of the Uighur prince, and had
slain the deputy of his suzereign, the Khan of Kara Khitai. Jingis took
him into his service, invested him with a golden girdle, and gave him a
daughter of his house to wife. The Idikut asked that he might have some
special mark of favour and be treated as his fifth son. To this he
assented, and gave him his daughter Altun Bigi in marriage.** Ozar,
prince of Almalig, was shortly after captured while hunting, and put to
death by order of Gushluk. Jingis appointed his son Seknak Tekin to
succeed him, and gave him the daughter of his eldest son Juji in
marriage, tt

The Khan of the Mongols now felt himself strong enough to undertake
a much more important enterprise, namely to attack the empire of China.

• D'Ohiton, 110. t Erdmann, 314. J De Mailla «aya Wuh-la-hai. Op. cit., 4a.
D*Obflion, i. zo6. S | Porter Smith, op. cit., 5. % D'Ohsaoo, i. xo6. ** Erdmann, 315.

tt D'Ohsson, i. iiz.

JINGIS KHAN. 67

That country was divided into two portions, the southern portion, with
its capital at Lin-ngan (the later Hangchow, in Chekiang ; it was also
called Kinsai, and was so known to Marco Polo),* was under the native
dynasty of the Sung ; the northern portion, comprising the provinces of
Pehchehli, Shansi, Shan-tung, Honan, the southern part of Shensi, and
that part of Kiang Nan north of the Yellow River, with its capital at
Yenking, near the modem Peking, was under the domination
of the Kin emperors, the Tartar dynasty from which the Manchus
eventually sprang. The Kin emperors dominated over Tartary, and
among others the Khitans, the previous masters of Northern China, were
their tributaries. Jing^s Khan relied upon the assistance of these latter.
He was also encouraged by some refugees, who reported to him that the
Qiinese were discontented with the Kin dynasty. During the reign of
the emperor Chang tung, 11 90- 1208, his uncle Ta ngan, who held the
fief of Wei in Honan,t had been sent into Tartary to collect tribute, and
had used his influence to thwart the rise of Jingis.J In 1209 Ta ngan
succeeded his nephew, and is known in Chinese history as Chong-hei.
In 1209 he sent the usual embassy to Jingis to receive his tribute.
Instead of kneeling to receive the Imperial commands he scornfully told
the envoy that the " Son of Heaven " (the euphemism used by the
Chinese when speaking of their emperors) ought to be an extraordinary
person, but an imbecile like this Chong hei, was he worthy of a throne,
or that he Temudjin should abase himself before him ? Upon which he
moimted his horse and rode away.

Having collected his officers, he recounted to them the injuries their
ancestors had received at the hands of the Altan Khans, the good fortune
that had hitherto attended his arms, which would probably continue, and
his determination to resist the pretensions of the emperor. This address
was well received, and it was determined to send one of the principal
Mongols, named Jafar Khodsha, to the Altan Khan with a haughty
message, reminding him that Jingis had risen from being a small
chieftain to be the master of the desert. That his forces were well
disciplined and well equipped. That fortune attended his arms in all
directions, and that he was prepared for either peace or war, whichever
the Kin emperor desired, but that he should no longer be his dependent.
To this the emperor, who was naturally enraged, replied with some
firmness and scom,§ and Jingis prepared for war. On the mountain
In-chan he made a solenm pact with a chief of the Khitans, in which a
white horse and a black ox were sacrificed, and an arrow was broken
while the parties faced towards the north. They swore mutual fidelity;
the Khitan undertaking to serve the Mongols, while the latter undertook
to restore the Khitans to the sovereignty of Liautung. The chief with

* Porter Smith, op. dt», 9i and 29. t Wolff, 54. J De Goignet, iv. a6.

i Brdmaim, 3x7 and 318. '

68 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

whom this treaty was made was named Yeliu Liuko. He was a scion of
the old royal family of the Liau, and lived at Tsien-u, on the northern
frontier.

Before setting out, Jingis climbed a mountain, and, having unloosed
his girdle, addressed a prayer to the gods, in which he mentioned the
murder of his relatives Ugin Berkak and Hemukai Khan by the Kin
emperors ; how he was now setting out to claim vengeance for their
blood, and prayed that victory might rest with those who had the right
on their side.* Having left his trusty commander and son-in-law,
Thugadshar Noyan, with a corps of 2,000 men to keep a watch on the
newly conquered tribes, he set out in March, 121 1, from the river
Kerulan. His four sons accompanied him. He had first to cross the
desert of Gobi, which then bordered the Mongol tribes on the ^uth, and
then came to the province of Shansi, whose northern frontier was
protected by the rampart of earth and bricks, with its occasional towers,
widely celebrated as the Great Chinese Wall. The Onguts, who
garrisoned the wall, treacherously went over to the invaders. It would
seem that their chief, Alausse or Alakush, was the chief influence among
them which was favourable to the- Mongols, and that the tribesmen were
by no means so well affected.t At all events, we are told that shortly
after this Alausse was put to death by his officers, and his nephew
Sengun succeeded him.t

Chepe Noyan commanded the right wing ; Jingis's three sons, Juji,
Ogotai, and Jagatai commanded the left wing; while he himself
with his youngest son Tuli was in the centre. Chepe, with the ilite of the
Mongol army, forced several posts of the Great Wall situated to the
north-east and north-west of Tai tong fu, then called Si king, or the
western court.§ He then advanced and plundered the country to within
a short distance of the Kin capital Tung king. Jingis himself invaded
the province of Pchchehli. After the capture of the town of Fu chau, he
advanced to the mountain. Ye hu ling, situated seven or eight leagues
from Siuen-hwa-fu.|| The Kin generals, With an army which has been
calculated at the absurd number of 400,000, were encamped close by.
They deemed it a good opportunity for attacking him while his horses were
emaciated from hard service, and the troops demoralised by the recent
plunder of Fu chau. Jingis was informed of the plan; he was also joined
by Ming-ngan (a Kin general in command of the advance guard), who
deserted to him. The Mongols made the necessary arrangements;
attacked and defeated one division of the Kin army, under the general
Kiukien. The main army, under Wainen Hosho, upon this retired
hastily, and was pursued to the fortress of Hoi ho p'u on the river Hoi,
where it was attacked and cut to pieces.^ A general whose name is not

* Erdmann,3i9. t De Mailla, 35. J D'Ohsson, i. 129. Note. i De Guignes, iv. 28.
I 40.38 N.L. 115 E, Porter Smith, op. cit., 49. 5 D'Ohsion, i. 130 131.

JINGIS KHAN. 69

mentioned, but De Guignes says he was a Guebre or Fire Worshipper,
now attacked the strong fort of Kiu yong koan, situated at the head of a
defile four leagues long, leading to the capital. This was abandoned in
a cowardly manner by its commander, and the Mongols took possession
of it. Meanwhile the third army, commanded by the three sons of
Jingis, overran six districts north of the Great Wall of Shansi, while
another division conquered the frontier country of Pehchehli.* The
list of Mongol conquests in China is monotonous and not very easy to
follow. At length in August, 12 12, Jingis laid siege to Tai-tong-fu. This
successfully resisted his attack, and, having been wounded by an arrow,
he retired once more into the desert. His invasion of China had been
an almost continuous success. He had broken the prestige of the Kin
soldiery and had tested the skill of his officers, among whom Chep6, Mukuli
Subutai and his brother Juji Kassar had greatly distinguished themselves.
While the great invasion was going on, his ally Yeliu Liuko, who had
raised a considerable army and was assisted by a contingent of 3,000
Mongols, defeated the Kin general Ho-sho, who was at the head of
60,000 men. Jingis now sent his able officer Chepe to help him. He laid
siege to Liauyang (also called Tung king, or the eastern residence), the
capital of Liautung, which was shortly afterwards captured. Yeliu Liuko,
with the consent of Jingis, took the title of king of Liau, and fixed his
capital at Hienping.

When the Mongols retired, the Kin soldiers reoccupied many of the
towns the former had captured, but they did not hold them long. In the
autumn of 12 13, Jingis once more entered China and overran a large
part of Pehchehli. The list of his captures occupies a closely
packed page of D'Ohsson's history (i. 136). It is too monotonous to
extract. But meanwhile a serious revolution occurred elsewhere. A
general of the empire called Hushaku, who had been an exile and very
destitute, and had been suddenly raised to his present position, conspired
against the emperor, had him seized in his palace, and a few days
afterwards murdered him, and placed Utubu, a brother of the murdered
emperor and a creature of his own, on the throne. He then fought a
battle with the Mongols, in which he was successful. The following day
they renewed the combat, and Kaoki, who commanded the Imperial
forces in the absence of Hushaku who had been wounded, was
defeated. Fearing the vengeance of the latter he forestalled him and
had him murdered. Having cut off his head he presented it to the
emperor, who rewarded his unsoldierly conduct by making him
generalissimo of his forces.

Meanwhile the Tanguts of Hia invaded the west of the empire. W.hen
they had been recently attacked by the Mongols they had asked
assistance from the Kin emperor, and as this had been refused they

• D*Oh880D, i. 132.

70 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

were piqued, made terms with the Mongols, and now attacked the
frontier town of Kia chau in Shensi.* Many Chinese had joined the
standard of Jingis, and to conciliate them he appointed Chinamen to
conmiand them. He also adopted the clever plan of making the women,
the aged, and the children march in front of his army, so that if attacked
they would be the first victims. Leaving a corps of observation in the
north he divided his army into three divisions, one of which overran
Shansi; a second, the maritime districts of Pehchehli and the
district of Liau si. The third, under his own orders, conquered the
interior districts of Pehchehli and Shan tung.t They ravaged ninety
flourishing towns, compelling the rural population, as they went along, to
construct the siege works. In this war, in which a great part of the
countr>' north of the Yellow river was overrun, the Mongols captured an
immense booty; gold and silken tissues, cattle, horses, and slaves. The
Mongol armies were all reunited not far from Yen king, and Jingis sent to
the emperor to offer terms, these were accepted. Utubu gave Jingis one
of the daughters of the deceased emperor Chong hei in marriage, and
with her a great quantity of precious articles, 500 youths, 500 girls, and
3,000 horses. D'Ohsson says that Jingis in retiring from the country
made a general massacre of his prisoners.

The Kin emperor having got rid of his great enemy, proclaimed a
general amnesty, and then removed his residence and court to his
southern capital, Pien king, now Kai fling fu. This aroused the jealousy
of Jingis, and as at the same time a leader of irregular troops in the
Imperial service called Choda (he is called Kanta by Gaubil), revolted
and asked his assistance, he once more ordered his Mongols to cross
the frontier. They speedily invested Yen-king, and defeated the armies
sent to its relief. The commander, despairing of success, poisoned
himself, after having composed a monitory address to his emperor, in
which he set out the measures necessary to save the empire. The
conmiander who replaced him escaped from the city in a most cowardly
manner, and the Mongols entered it. Here they made a general carnage ;
they fired the emperor's palace, which is said to have continued burning
for a month, and then despatched a vast booty to Jingis Khan. Among
the captives was a Khitan whose long beard, great stature, and imposing
voice, are recorded as having impressed his conqueror very much. Jingis
addressed him: "The houses of the Liau and Kin have always been
enemies, I have avenged thee." Khu-tsai, such was his name, replied:
" My father, grandfather, and myself have been the subjects and servants
of the Kin Emperors; it is not seemly that I should abuse them."
Touched by his fidelity, Jingis took him into his house, made him court
astrologer, and deputed to him especially the duty of consulting the
divination by means of burnt shoulder blades of sheep, a practice still

* Gaubil, 21. t D'OhMon, i. 140.

JINGIS KHAN. 71

frequent among the Mongols.* He became the trusty councillor of Ogotai,
vide infra. The chief heroes of the capture of the northern capital of the
Kin were the Mongol generals Samuka Behadur and Mingan. Jingis was
determined to push on his success. He despatched Samuka with 10,000
men, with orders to march by way of Hia and to force the pass of
Tung kwan,the celebrated passage through the mountains which separates
the provinces of Shensi and Honan, and is in fact the key to the latter.
After attacking it in vain he succeeded in turning it, and clambered over
the ravines and rocks — according to De Mailla using lances and boughs
of trees lashed together with chains as a roadway for his cavalry.
Having thus crossed the mountains he penetrated into the heart of
Honan, but was there beaten and had to retire rapidly ; his troops
crossed the Yellow river on the ice. He did not retire far, and next year
again crossed the river, captured the fort of Tung kwan and several
cities, and laid siege to the capital, but not having a sufficient force he
retu-ed again, and was soon after defeated near Pen yan fu, in Shan-si.

Meanwhile the emperor had sent an army to recover possession of
Liautung, which, from its natural strength, having three sides defended
by the sea, was treated as a place of refuge, in case of disaster, by the
court. This army had driven out Yeliu Liuko, soi-disant king of Liautung,
and captured his capital. Jijigis sent his most trusty general MukuH with
an army to reinstate his protege. Mukuli attacked Tung-king, which he
captured, by a ruse. One of the emperor's messengers, on his way there, was
captured and put to death, and his patent of office having been secured, a
trusty Mongol was substituted for him. He presented himself at the city,
was not suspected, reported that everything was again quiet at the Imperial
court, and that the soldiers should be disbanded. Hardly was this done
when Mukuli appeared with his army, and occupied the town without
shooting an arrow. This conquest, says De Mailla, secured to the Mongols
several thousand li of territory, 180,000 families, 100,000 soldiers, and an
immense store of riches. Of thirty-two towns of Liautung, all except Tai
ning were captured. Mukuli now advanced into tiau Si, />., Liau
West.

He was met in the country of the Hoa tao by the Kin general Intsing,
who had an army of 200,000 men. This, according to Gaubil, was
filled with traitors, and partially dispersed. The Imperial general was
assassinated, and another named Ilduku put in his place. Having
ventured on a battle, he was beaten, and the Peking, or northern capital,
which then was the city of Ta ning fu, fell into the hands of the Mongols.
Ilduku was appointed its governor. Mukuli put down a fresh rebellion
and killed its leaders, and having reduced the two important provinces
of Liautung and Liau Si to order, he returned to the camp of Jingis, who
received him with great honour, pronounced an eulogium upon him, gave

* D*OhMon, i. 149.

74 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

the year 1200, had aheady extended his dominion by the conquest of
Balkh, Herat, and all Khorassan. In 1208-9 he broke his allegiance to the
Gur Khan, and in the next year he subdued Trans-Oxiana. In 1212-13
he annexed the principality of Gur, and three years later that of Ghazni.
Here he discovered that the caliph of Bagdad had been intriguing against
him ; he thereupon marched an army against him, overran Irak-Adjem,
and was only prevented from taking Bagdad by the severity of the winter
and the incessant attacks of the Kurds and other nomades.

The mother of Muhammed was Turkan Khatuna. She belonged to
the Turkish tribe of the Kankalis, who then dominated over the steppes
north of the Aral. On her marriage many chiefs and tribes of that race
entered into the service of the Khuarezm Shah ; they formed quite a sepa-
rate element in the population, a kind of military aristocracy, like the later
Mameluks, over which the Sultana had great influence, and through
which she ha^ almost equal authority with her son. On his return from
Irak, Muhammed came to Bukharia, where he received some envoys
from Jingis Khan, who brought him presents of silver bars, musk, jade,
costly dresses of white wool called tarkoul (made of white camels' hair,
and costing fifty dinars each), with the message: " I send these greeting,
I know thy power and the vast extent of thine empire, I regard thee as
my most cherished son. On thy part, thou must know that I have
conquered China and all the Turkish nations north of it ; thou knowest
that my country is a magazine of warriors, a mine of silver, and that I
have no need of other lands. I take it we have an equal interest in
encouraging trade between our subjects." This good feeling was
apparently reciprocated by Muhammed, but an unfortunate occurrence
soon caused a serious quarrel between them ; some agents of Jingis who
had gone to buy merchandise for him in Trans-Oxiana were seized as
spies at Otrar and executed by Inallzig, the chief of the Kankalis
encamped there, and with the approval of Muhammed. Jingis sent
envoys to demand that the governor of Otrar should be handed over to
him, in default of which he would declare war. Muhammed's ruthless
answer was to murder Bag^a, the chief envoy, and to send the other two
back with their beards cut off. He then, without declaring war, led an
army into the steppes north of the Jaxartes. War was now inevitable,
and Jingis having called a Kuriltai, it was determined to prosecute it
vigorously. It would seem that he was encouraged to proceed by the
invitation of the Khalif Nassir, who was a deadly enemy of Muhammed,
the latter having attempted to displace him and to put a nominee of his
own on the throne of Baghdad.*

In the spring of 12 18 Jingis set out from Karakorum and sunmiered his
cavalry on the Irtish ; with him marched the princes of the Uighurs and
the Karluks, and the chief of Almalig. From the Irtish the Mongol Khan

* D'Ohsson, i. axz. Note. De Goignes, iT. 43.

JINGIS KHAN. 75

directed that his army should advance upon the Khuarezmian empire by
two grand routes. The northern army under the command of his second
son Jagatai marched against the Kankalis, who defended the country
abbut the Balkash sea and Karatag mountains. The southern army under
his eldest son Juji, who had rejoined his father after his campaign in the
north of Sungaria, marched by way of Utsh Turfan and Pidshan, and
drove the broken remnants of Kushluk's former army towards Kashgar,
and then on through the passes of Akizek, Terek, and Tazik in Jhe
Asfera range, and into Ferghana. The fugitives wished to join a body of
Muhammed's troops who were in the neighbourhood of Khokand or
Khodjend. They were overtaken between the river of Ush, also called
Takti Soliman, Kamuksu, or Kamzi, and the river of Keba, both small
tributaries of the Jaxartes, probably near Ardana,and were cut to pieces,
except a few who escaped or were taken prisoners.* Muhammed's
forces amounted it is said to 400,000 men, who were ill-disciplined and
disintegrated, while he himself had lost the confidence of his younger
days. The approach of the Mongols from this side was unexpected ; he
put his people in motion and set them out in battle array between Ush
and Sangar. The Mongol chiefs wished to retire and to draw the
Sultan's army into the narrow passes, where a small force might easily
resist a large one ; but Juji was of a different opinion. He ordered the
attack ; a savage fight ensued, during which in his eagerness he was
nearly captured or killed, and was saved by the timely succour of Pi tu,
the son of Je lu lieu ko, who had been appointed king of Liautimg
by Jingis, the Khuarezmian army was defeated, and if we are
to believe the chroniclers who deal in hyberbolic phrases, the loss in
killed, wounded, and fugitives was 160,000. Muhammed now determined
to avoid meeting the Mongols in the open field, but to scatter his army
among the towns of Mavera ul nehr and Khuarezm, in the vain hope
that the Mongols would be content with ravaging the open count r)-, and
then return with their booty. He himself retired to Samarkand, and his
retirement broke down to a large extent the spirit of his subjects.t

While Juji was invading Trans-Oxiana from the east, the other
sections of the Mongol army were marching down upon the doomed
garden of Asia from the north. Otrar was the main point of attack. It
is the key to the fertile province to the south of the Jaxartes called
Mavera id nehr by the Arabs, and known in the west as Trans-Oxiana,
names equivalent to Mesopotamia, Entre Rios, and the Doub in other
countries, bounded on the north by the Jaxartes or Sihun, on the south
by the Oxus or Jihun, and on the east and west by the mountains of
Pamir and the Khorassan sand-wastes respectively. The Mongol army
was divided into four corps, the first of which commanded by Jagatai and
Ogotai, the sons of Jingis, invested Otrar. Planted as a garrison on this

•Wolfi,65. t Wolff, 66.

76 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

frontier were a body of Kankalis under their chief Inallzik, who had
been granted the title of Gur Khan by the former chief of Kara
Khitai,* and who had precipitated the war as I have described by
putting the envoys of Jingis to death. His army mustered about 50,000,
and he was now reinforced by a further body of 10,000, who were
sent him by Muhammed under Karadshar Hadshib, who was his
vizier.

The army that marched against Otrar was conmianded by Jagatai and
Ogotai, the second and third sons of Jingis. After a siege of five
months, from the end of November, 12 18, to the end of April, 12 19, the
garrison became hard pressed, and as Inallzik refused to surrender,
Karadshar, with the Hite of the soldiers, left the town at night, and
deserted to the Mongols. They were put to death— the Draconic
sentence of the Mongols being that 'one who was faithless to his own
sovereign would prove so to them. Inallzik, with 20,000 of his followers,
now took refuge in the citadel, where he held out for two months. The
place was then stormed and its g^arrison put to death. Inallzik escaped
with tw^o men to his home, and when they were killed the story goes that
he hurled bricks at his pursuers, which were handed to him by his wife.
He was at length captured alive, and was put to death by having melted
silver poured into his ears and eyes, a retribution it is said for his
a\*arice. The walls of Otrar were razed and the place was pillaged, but the
lives of the inhabitants were spared; but the siege had already cost the lives
of 100,000 soldiers and 200,000 civilians. While this siege was going on
Juji, who had defeated the Khuarezmian army as I have described,
proceeded to subdue and overrun the country of Eastern Ferghana.
Among its towns most celebrated in later days was Sighnak, which Wolff
identifies with the Senderach of Edrisi and the Senkharab or Sengar of
other authors, which is situated four or five miles south-east of Ush on the
mountain road to Kashgar.t It was afterwards the capital of the White
Horde Juji ^-as ordered to treat the inhabitants with tenderness. He sent
forward one Hassan Hadji, or the pilgrim, who had traded with the
Mongols, to summon the town. Treating him as a traitor, the
inhabitants put him to death. To re\*enge this, Juji pressed the attack
with vigour, and after seven days of severe fighting captured it and made
a general massacre of its inhabitants. He then captured and pillaged
Uzkend, Barkhaligkcnd, and Eshnass-t The strong city of Jend was his
next goal. Its governor, Kutluk Khan, deserted it in the night. This
caused great confusion inside, and prevented preparations for defence.
Its high walls were speedily scaled ; the lives of its inhabitants were
spared, but ihcy were driven into the open coimtry for nine da3rs, while
the town was gi\-en up to pillage. Juji appointed Ali Khodja of Bokhara
to be its governor. He then captured the tOM-n of Yengigent (/>. Xcwtown),

* \Vv>lff, <o. t Wolff. :i. : Schass of Voo Hamincr^Gokico HoHe. 79-

JINGIS KHAN. 77

situated on the Jaxartes^ at two days' journey from its outlet into the sea
of AraL

We are now told that the Ulus Bede, probably the Uighurs, desiring
to return home, were sent back to Karakorum, and were replaced by
10,000 Turkomans.* (Von Hammer and D*Ohsson say expressly it was
10,000 Uighurs who thus returned home.) These Turkomans were sent
with other troops into Khuarezm, but having killed their commander, they
were attacked by the other Mongols and dispersed. The remnant sought
refuge at Amuyeh and Mem. As a diversion to draw off some of the
troops of Ferghanah from attacking Juji, Jingis had despatched a third
army, consisting of 5,000 men, under Suktu Buka and Alan Noyon, who
first captured the old city of Aksi, formerly the capital of Ferghanah,
they then attacked Benaket which was garrisoned by some Kankalis. After
a short resistance they surrendered, hoping for qiercy, but it availed them
nothing. As the town had not surrendered at once the soldiery were put
to death, the artisans were divided as prisoners among the Mongols.
This division then attacked Khodjend, a beautiful town on the Jaxartes,
famous for its gardens and fruits, for its trade, and the bravery of its
inhabitants. Its governor was an intrepid warrior, called Timur-Melik,
he retired with 1,000 men to a small island in the Jaxartes, out of reach
of weapons from either bank. The Mongols forced the country people
to carry stones to make a causeway to the island. Meanwhile Timur-
Melik was indefatigable in destroying the besiegers* works. He built
twelve large boats, protected by felts and other coverings from the stink-
pots of the Mongols; with these he made raids on the besiegers and their
workmen, but hard pressed he was at length obliged to fly. Having
embarked his troops and valuables on seventy boats, he trusted himself
to the river. He broke past Benaket, where a chain had been
stretched across. At Jend a bridge of boats had been built as a barrier,
and baUstas and other primitive cannon were planted on the banks.
These forced him to land, he gave battle to the Mongols several times,
but his force gradually diminished until he was left alone, and alone he
reached Urgendj. Having collected a few troops, he returned and
surprised Yengigent, and killed its governor, a nominee of the Mongols.
He afterwards joined his master, the Khuarezm Shah. His intrepidity
was long remembered. Oriental historians quote the adage that "if
Rustem were stiD alive he might be his page." t

While these three divisions were successfully overrunning the coimtry
watered by the Jaxartes, Jingis and his younger son Tului advanced with
the main army towards Bokhara. With him went two bodies of
balisters, the primitive artillery of the Mongols. The towns of
Tashkend (not Sertak, as the translator of Abulghazi says)t and Nur
or Nurata surrendered as he approached ; the inhabitants were well

* Erdmann, 374. t Vambciyt Bokharab, xas* I Wolff, 69.

78 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

treated, merely paying a ransom and supplying a contingent of young
men to the Mongol army. Jingis ordered the name of the former town to
be changed to Kutluk balig, ue. Lucky city. At the latter we are
told that the ear-rings of the women collected on the spot made up one-
half the amount of 1,500 dinars y which was claimed as ransom. This is
no bad evidence of the prosperous condition of the inhabitants.

Bokhara was defended by 20,000 soldiers. It was then a very laige
and magnificent city. " Its name, according to the historian Alai-ud-din,
is derived from Bokhar, which in the Magian language means the * centre
of science."'* In the time of Ibn Haukal it was surrounded by two
walls, the inner, one farasan^ in circuit, the outer, twelve parasangs;
between the two were palaces, parks, gardens, and villages. The river of
Sogd traversed its faubourgs. It was on the 19th of June, 1219, that
Jingis appeared before the city.t

After several days' siege the garrison despairing of success forced its
way through the Mongol lines, but was subsequently attacked and almost
destroyed. The next day the Imams and great men came to surrender
the city. The Mongol chief, we are told, entered it to see ; arrived
at the great mosque, he asked if this was the Sultan's palace ; on being
told it was the house of God he dismounted, climbed the steps, and said
in a loud voice to his followers, " The hay is cut, give your horses fodder." X
They easily understood this cynical invitation to plunder, and meanwhile
the boxes in which the korans were kept were converted into mangers ;
the sacred books were trampled under the horses' hoofs. As if this was
not enough insult, the floor of the mosque was strewn with wine skins,
singing-women were introduced into the building, and a scene of
debauchery ensued, during which the Imams, doctors of the law, &c.,
were compelled to hold the horses' bridles. Jingis Khan then collected
the chief inhabitants in the Mosalla or place set apart for public prayer,
and thus addressed them, " You have committed great faults, and the
chiefs and leaders of the people are the greatest criminals. If you need
any proof of my statement, I answer that I am the scourge of God. If
you were not great criminals, God would not have permitted me to have
thus punished you." He further bade them disclose all their hidden
treasure, and not mind making any return about that that was not hidden,
as he could easily find that. The inhabitants w^re ordered to leave the
town in a body, with only their clothes, so that it might be more easily
piDaged, after which the spoil was di\'ided among the victors. ^ It was a
fearful day," saj-s Ibn al Ithir, ^ one only heard the sobs and weeping of
men, women, and children, who were separated for ever ; women were
ravished, while many men died rather than sur\'ive the dishonour of their
wives and daughters." The Mongols ended by setting fire to all the

• D'Ofasson, L xi^ t Wolff, 69.

JINGIS KHAN. 79

wooden portion of the town, and only the great mosque and certain
palaces which which were built of brick remained standing.*

Von Hammer compares with force the accounts of the capture of
Bokhara given by the Mussulman historians with the Byzantine descrip-
tions of the capture of Constantinople. The Kankalis who garrisoned
Bokhara were as usual put to death, according to Erdmann to the
number of 30,000, and the city remained desolate for a long time. The
young men were sent to do sappers' work at the siege of Samar-
kand, to which Jingis now turned. He advanced along the beautiful
valley of Sogd, the paradise described so enthusiastically by Persian
authors. Muhammed had sometime before deserted his capital and
retired across the Oxus towards Termed, t

Samarkand was not only the capital of Trans-Oxiana, but also one of '
of the greatest entrepots of commerce in the world. Three miles in cir-
cumference, it was surrounded with a wall having castles at intervals, and
pierced by twelve iron gates ; was then garrisoned by 110,000 men, of
whom 60,000 were Turkomans and Kankalis, and 50,000 Tajiks or Persians.
There were also twenty war elephants attached to the army. Jingis
was joined by the three armies that had overrun Northern Trans-Oxiana,
which converged upon the doomed town, and an immense body of men
invested it. The Turkish mercenaries, who thought they would be treated
as compatriots by the Mongols, deserted in a body with their families and
property. Upon this the Imams and chief men came out and offered to
surrender. The inhabitants were, as before, told to go out of the city
while it should be plundered ; 30,000 artisans were assigned as slaves to
his several sons, an equal number were set aside for military works,
transport service, &c., while 50,000 were permitted to re-occupy the
ruined city after paying a ransom of 200,000 pieces of gold, and the
province of Samarkand was almost depopulated. The hardest fate was
that of the Kankalis who had deserted. Having separated them from
the Persians, they were lulled into security by being ordered to adopt the
military dress of the Mongols, and then slaughtered to the number of
30,000, with their principal chiefs Barishniaz Khan, Togai Khan, Sarsig
Khan, Ulag Khan, &c.t It is hard to divine a reason for this barbarous
act, unless it was a fear of the turbulence of these mercenaries. Mean-
while, Muhammed had deserted his richest province. As the Mongols
advanced into Trans-Oxiana he retired to Nakhsheb, his irresolution
being increased by the divergence of his councillors. As he retired
he reconmiended the inhabitants to submit, as his soldiers could not
protect them. When he reached Balkh he was joined by one of his
viriers called Amad-ul-mulk, who persuaded him to retreat to Irak Adjem.
His Turkish soldiers began to be treacherous, and he had to change
his tent every night to escape assassination. On the eighteenth of April

* D'Ohstoa, i. 331-234. t Erdmann, 383. I Erdmann, Note 274.

8o HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

he halted at Nishapoor, and on the twelfth of May, having heard that the
Mongols had crossed the frontier of Khorassan, he hastily left that town
with a small retinue under the pretence of a hunting expedition.

After the capture of Samarkand Jingis remained in its fruitful neigh-
bourhood until May, 1220, when having sent on three armies in pursuit of
Muhammed, as I shall presently describe, he himself moved a short
distance southwards, and spent the sunmier in the beautiful district
of Kesh or Shehr Sebz, />., the Green town, situated on the river Koshka
or Kasaban. In the autumn he broke through the pass in the Karatag
chain, called the Derbend Kaluga or Iron Gate, and advanced upon
Termed, situated on the north bank of the Oxus. Having refused the
summons to open its gates and to demolish its walls and citadel, it was
•captured after a siege of nine days. Its inhabitants were ordered to
evacuate it and were all slaughtered.

An incident of the capture is worth repeating, an old woman on the
point of being killed, said she had a magnificent pearl which she would
give them if they spared her, when they demanded it she told them she
had swallowed it, upon which she was disembowelled. Jingis ordered
the other corpses to be dealt with in the same way and searched for
similar treasure.

While near Termed he ordered a grand hunt to be held. Such a hunt
win be described below. This one was on a very large scale, and lasted
four months.* After the hunt he ravaged the districts of Kunkurt and
Saman, and sent an army to conquer Badakshan. He was now master
of the wide country north of the Oxus. All Turan was his, and having
no enemy to dread in his rear, he determined to cross the Oxus. He
first destroyed or dispersed the fleet which defended it by means of
showers of burning missiles, probably stink-pots, which were supplied
him by one of his Chinese officers, named Ko pao yu.t Hanng crossed
the ri^*er, he ad\'anccd against Balkh, the cradle of the earliest traditions
of the Arian race, a very populous and wealthy cit>', then containing
1,200 medsheds or great mosques, besides lesser ones, and 200 public
baths. It ^\•as unfortified. The inhabitants sent him presents and sub-
mitted to him, but he was afraid to leave it behind him. On pretence of
numbering its inhabitants he enticed them out of the city and then
slaughtered them ; the city itself was reduced to ashes. A fearful treat-
ment for so slight a pretext

Jingis now sent his son Tului with 70,000 men to ^a^'age Khorassan,
while he himself went eastward to Tokharistan to lay siege to
Talikhan.

Wliile Jingis loitered with his forces in the beautiful meadows of Sogd,
after the capture of Samarkand, he despatched Chep^ Noyan and Subutai
Behadur, two weU-thed chiefs, each with a tuman, tjt^ 10,000 men,

* Srdmuuu 402-4. t WotS; 77.

JINGIS KHAN. 8r

in pursuit of Muhamnied.* Erdmann's mention of a third tuman under
Tuktai is, I believe, a mistake. He ordered them to chase Muhammed
wherever he should ga They crossed the Oxus at Pendjab, making
trunks out of branches covered with hides in which they placed their
arms and valuables, and fastening them to the tails of their horses forded
the river.t

Khorassan was then a rich and prosperous province, divided into four
departments, whose chief towns were Mem, Herat, Nishapoor, and
Balkh.

Baikh submitted at the approach of the Mongols, who appointed a
governor, and hearing that Muhammed had fled westward, they passed
on to Andekuh, and thence advanced to Herat, whose governor, Amin
Malek, sent out envoys offering to hold himself as the slave of the Grand
Khan, and bearing presents. Chep^ and Subutai upon this again advanced.
A small town in the neighbourhood of Herat, called Zaweh, now known as
Turbut Haidari, dared to beard them, and its garrison reviled them from
the ramparts. Three days sufficed for its capture. Its inhabitants were
put to death.^ On the 5th of June the Mongol advanced guard arrived
before Nishapoor. On being summoned, the governor replied that the
city had been entrusted to him by the Sultan, that he was an old man,
and that he only knew how to use the pen. " Speed on after him," he
said, "when you have overcome him then will I be your man."
Meanwhile he sent envoys to the Mongol camp with presents. A letter
of Jingis Khan's, written in the Uighur character, and phrased as
follows, was sent to the inhabitants :— " Commanders, elders, and
commonalty, know that God has given me the empire of the earth from
the cast to the west, whoever submits shall be spared, but those who
resist, they shall be destroyed with their wives, children, and dependents."
The town was spared on this occasion. Having victualled their troops
there, and having thus warned them the Mongol army, which was joined
by bands of brigands and renegade Turks, moved on in pursuit of
Muhammed. § He had retired from Nishapoor under pretence of a
bunting excursion, leaving a considerable garrison there, and having
placed his wife and his youngest son, Ghiazzedin, in the fort of Karendar,
deemed the stronghold of Khorassan, went to Bostan, on the borders of
Khorassan and Mazanderan and thence to Kazvin. The two Mongol
commanders followed in his wake. They scoured the country effectually;
crossing the mountains they appeared before Thus or Toos, whose
inhabitants were not submissive, and they consequently ravaged the
district terribly. || They then passed through the beautiful wooded district
of Radegan to Koochan or Kabooshan, plundering and appropriating
such food and clothing as they needed, and leaving commanders or

* D*0hM0n, L a40. Von Hammer't Goldeo Horde, 8x. t D'Ohuon, i. 244.

I D*OlisMii, i. a4S. Brdauum, 39a. ^ D'OhMon, i. 245-8. ErdmAim, 394. I BrdmAim, 393.

L

82 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

deputies in each town.* Their way led them through Bostan. There
apparently the two commanders separated. Subutai marched through
the district of Kumuss towards Jeferan, and savagely attacked Sarabad
(? Shah-rood), Dameghan, and Semnoon.t Chep6 made a detour
through Mazanderan, where he captured the principal city, which was
probably Sari ; t then crossing the Elburz chain, through the mountain
region of Bariyan, and past the fortress of Ilak, probably the modem fort
of Ask or Asek, eight or nine miles south of AmoL This fortress was
protected by its position, and the Mongols passed it by, unaware it
would seem that Turkhan Khatun, the Sultan's mother, and her young
children were then hiding there. Their next goal was the fortress
of Rudin, the modem Rudehan, not far from Demavend.§ Muhammed
had meanwhile fled in the direction of Hamadan, and Chep6 set out in
pursuit of him, while Subutai marched upon Kazvin. Both were towns
of Irak Adjem, a province separated by deserts from Khorassan, Fars, and
Kerman, and crowded with mountains, many of which are snow-covered,
whence its Arab name of Jibal. The army of Irak, 30,000 in number,
was collected under the walls of Kasvin, under the command of Rokn-
ud-din, the son of Muhammed. Chep6 captured Kum, then advanced to
Rudbar and Hamadan ; the latter was a famous and rich town of Irak.
Its governor sent him presents and was submissive, and thus saved its
inhabitants from attack. Chep6 now seems to have rejoined Subutai before
Kazvin, which was captured and 50,000 people slaughtered. Meanwhile
Muhammed escaped to Maradaulat abad, south-east of Hamadan, where
he and his son collected an army of from 20,000 to 30,000 men. This
was attacked and dispersed. Rokn-un-din, the Sultan's son, fled to
Kerman, the Sultan himself went first to Kurdistan and then to the strong
fort of Karend, on the road from Kermandshah to Baghdad. There he was
met by Hezar-Asb, the Prince of Luristan, a skilful commander. He
tried to persuade his suzerein to retire behind the range that divides Fars
from Luristan, where he might rely on the assistance of the Kurdish
mountain tribes, but Muhammed was suspicious of this advice and
preferred to make a stand in Irak ; but the Mongols were at his heels.
He passed through Mazanderan and Ghilan, where he arrived almost
alone. At length he reached a village called Istidura by Abulghazi,
and Astadad by Nissari. It is now called Astara, and is situated on the
south-western shore of the Caspian. Thence he escaped to a small
island in that sea, which is probably to be identified with Abiskhum, a
day's journey from Astrabad. The Caspian is constantly shallowing, and
it is now a peninsula, and called Gumish Tepe, /.^., the Silver Hill.
Ruins and many silver coins are found there. J Muhanmied was suffering
from an attack of pleurisy, and feeling his end approach he nominated his

* ErdmAon, 395. t Erdmann, 39s. I Wolff, 80. ^ Wolff, 80.

fl Wolff. 8z.

JINGIS KHAN. 83

son Jdal-ud-din as his successor, declaring that he was the only one able to
save the empire ; he girded his sword on him and ordered his younger
sons to do him homage ; he died directly after and was buried in the
island. So poor was he that it is said he was buried without a shroud,
and merely in his shirt. The date of his death was the loth of January,
1221.* A date which has a terrible sound in it as it marks the rapidity
with which so mighty a potentate as he was, was hunted down and
destroyed.

Persian historians are much divided in their estimate of Muhammed;
some endowing him with many soldierly virtues, others accusing him of
love of luxury and dissipation. There can be little question about his
wavering and decrepit conduct in the presence of the Mongols.

Let us again revert to Subutai and Chep6. Having captured Ardebil,
the chief town of Eastern Azerbaidjan, they followed the Sultan to the
southern coast of the Caspian, and then marched eastward again into
Northern Khorassan, to cut off the retreat of the Khuarezmian princes.
There they suffered some loss from an irregular chieftain named Inandj'
who had assembled some troops in the mountains, at the sources of the
rivers Gurgan and Attrek ; t but having been joined by a reinforcement
of 10,000 men, they made him retire to Nessa.

When Muhanmied retired behind the Oxus, he sent word to his mother,
Turkan Khatun, who governed at Urgendj (the modern Khiva), and with
whom he was not on very good terms, to retire into Mazanderan. Jingis,
who knew of the ill-feeling, tried to cajole her into deserting the cause of
her son, and promised her the government of Khorassan. She did not
reply however to his advances, and when she heard that Muhammed had
retreated she murdered the several princes whose dominions Muhammed
had occupied, and who were retained as prisoners at Urgendj ; they were
drowned in the Oxus, among these were two sons of Thogrul, the last
Seljuk sultan of Irak, the prince of Balkh and his son, the lord of Termed,
the princes of Bamiran and of Vakhsh, the two sons of the lord of Sighnak,
the two sons of Mahmud, the last prince of Gur, and many others.^ She
then retired into Mazanderan, where she shut herself up in the fort of Ilak
or Elek, now Al Ask. Subutai and Chep^ returned once more to Kumuss,
where they found the town of Dameghan deserted by its inhabitants, who
had fled to the mountains. They attacked and plundered in their savage
way Amol and other towns of Taberistan, and at length sat down to
besiege the fortress of Ilak.

It was situated in a rainy district, and its builders had not made
provision for a droughty season, which this proved to be ; want of water
compelled a capitulation after a resistance of three months. The Sultana
and the Sultan's harem were sent as prisoners to Jingis Khan, who was then
besieging Talikhan. Two of the princesses became wives of Jagatai; others

• Wolflf, 81. t Wolff, Bi. I D'Ohston, i. 238.

84 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

were given to Mongol officers. A son of Muhammed, who was still with
the harem, was put to death. Two chests-full of precious stones also fell
into the hands of the victors.* The rapid, persistent, and ubiquitous
pursuit of Muhammed and his family, through an unknown and difficidt
country, may be read with profit by military critics, and speaks not less
for the skill of the two Mongol commanders than for the discipline,
courage, and endurance of their men.

The death of Muhammed and the capture of his harem by no means
completed the work which the Mongols had prepared for themselves. It
was their aim to tear up by the roots not only the main trunk but also
the subordinate branches of the ruling family of Khuarezm. Several of
Muhammed's sons were still at large and long and successfully evaded
capture, but they were hotly pursued notwithstanding, and when we /ead
the frightful chapter of human history which I shall presently shortly
epitomise, and which describes the practical depopulation and destruc-
tion of the beautiful province of Khorassan, we must remember that the
probable motive of it all was the assistance the fugitive princes ever
received in this centre of their faith and of their race, and although the
wolfish g^eed of blood and massacre, which must sicken every reader who
follows the story, cannot be defended, yet it must be allowed that the
treachery, fanaticism, and want of spirit of the Tajik and Turk frontagers
of Persia — their ruling vices still— made the sword of terror the only
means the isolated Mongols had of producing quiet and order, and in
themselves invited at one time or other a fitting retribution. On the death
of his father, Jelal-ud-din, who, as I have said, had been named his
successor, made his way to Mangushlak, on the Caspian, whence he sent
his two brothers Uzlak Sulan and Ak Sultan to Urgendj, where the
Mongols had not yet appeared, to announce his accession. He shortly
after followed. An army of 90,000 Kankalis was assembled there. These
unruly troops either feared the strong hand of Jelal ud din, or despised
his youth, or favoured some other pretenders, and plotted against his life.
He fled with 300 companions, led by the brave defender of Khodjend,
Timur Melik. Jingis, whose forces were now encamped near Naksheb,
sent a large force under three of his sons to capture Urgendj, the capital
of Khuarezm, and ordered the troops which had traversed Khorassan to
form a cordon round the southern edge of the desert. Jelal-ud-din
crossed the desert in sixteen days, and arrived at Shadbash, in the neigh-
bourhood of Nessa.t Here he charged bravely into a body of Mongols,
and managed to get away, and escaped to Ghazni. His two brothers,
who soon after followed him, were less lucky. They were captured and
beheaded, and their heads were shown about on spears. With them was
taken much valuable booty.

We are told that the peasants of the canton of Vesht were greatly

* Wolff, 84. D'Ohsion, i. 259-261. t Erdmann, 408.

JINGIS KHAN. 85

enriched by the number of precious stones captured from the Khua-
rezmians, which the Mongols, who did not know their value, sold them
at an absurdly small price.

Meanwhile (t,e., in May, 1220) the Mongol army marched upon
Urgendj, the modem Khiva, the capital of the rich cluster of cities that
then bordered the Oxus, a river very like the Nile in forming a strip of
green across two sandy deserts which bound it on either hand. The
Kankalis I have named were then its garrison. The Mongols were led
by Juji, Jagatai, and Ogotai, the three eldest sons of Jinj^is, Juji having
the supreme command. He summoned the inhabitants to surrender,
offering them easy terms. His father, he told them, had made him a
present of their country, and he wished the city to preserve its beauty
and prosperity. The summons was without avail, and the siege pro-
ceeded. For lack of stones the Mongol catapults were ser\ed with balls
made out of the neighbouring mulberry trees, hardened by being soaked
in water. The quarrels of Juji and his brother Jagatai interfered with the
progress of the siege, discipline was loosened, and the Mongols after six
months' labour had lost a great number of men. Jingis, when he heard
of the quarrelling, appointed a younger son, Ogotai, to superintend the
work. It was now pushed on with vigour j the Mongols at length
assaulted the town, fired its buildings with naptha, and after seven days
of desperate street-fighting captured it. This was probably in December,
1220.* They sent the artisans and skilled workmen into Tartary, set
aside the young women and children as slaves, and then made a general
massacre of the rest of the inhabitants. They destroyed the city, and
then submerged it by opening the dykes of the Oxus.t The ruins are
probably those now known as Old Urgendj.

Raschid says that over 100,000 artisans and craftsmen were sent into
Mongolia, the rest of the inhabitants were divided among the conquerors,
and so numerous were they that twenty-four Mussulmans fell to the lot of
each Mongol. The soldiers, as usual, were put to death. J After the
capture of Urgendj the Mongols joined Jingis before Talikhan. That
obstinate fortress resisted the besiegers for nearly seven months. The
Mongols freely used their prisoners in the first ranks of the assaulting
force, and raised a great mound of earth on a wooden platform, on which
they planted their siege artillery. The place at length fell. Some of the
cavahy escaped to the mountains ; of the rest of the inhabitants not a
soul escaped slaughter. The town itself was razed to the ground.

After the death of Muhammed the Mongols adopted a scientific
strategy to break down the power of his sons. As I have said, one army
under the sens of Jingis marched upon Urgendj, or Khuarezm, the capital
of their dominions, it gave its name to the empire of Khuarezm, of which

^ Wolff, 97. t Ibn-&l.Etbir, see D'Ohsson, i. 270.

; Erdmaan, 4x0-12. D'Ohsson, i. 265-270.

86 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

they were the rulers. Other Mongol troops, under Subutai and Chep^,
formed a ring round the southern edge of the desert. A third force, com-
manded by Tului, advanced into Khorassan, whose cities had been sub-
missive enough to the Mongols when in pursuit of the Sultan Muhanmied,
as we have already related. Khorassan was then one of the richest and
most prosperous regions on the earth's surface ; its towns were very
thickly inhabited, and it was the first and most powerful province of
Persia. The Mongol invasion altered all this, and the fearful ravage and
destruction then committed is almost incredible. It was to capture the
heir of Muhammed, the Sultan Jelal-ud-din, that Tului set out on his
terrible journey. He marched at the head of 70,000 men. This was in
the autumn of 1220. He sent on an advance guard under Tugachar
Noyan, his brother-in-law. As this approached Nessa, one of its
divisions was assailed by a shower of arrows from the walls, and its leader,
Balgush, was killed. To avenge his death the Mongols attacked the
town.

The siege has been told by one of its contemporary chieftains,
Muhammed of Nessa. After fifteen days' pounding from twenty catapults,
which were served by prisoners, a breach was made, the walls were
stormed, the inhabitants ordered to evacuate the city,' they were then told
to lie down side by side, and were tied together with cords, then the
Mongols destroyed the whole, men, women, and children, with showers
of arrows. This horrible hecatomb destroyed 70,000 people. The
historian Muhammed, with many fugitives, had taken refiige in the
impregnable fort of Kharender. When the Mongols saw they could not
take it they consented to retire on the payment of 10,000 cotton garments.
According to their custom, they massacred the two old men who had
volunteered on the dangerous errand of carrying this booty to their camp.
They then, says Muhammed of Nessa, spread over Khorassan. When
they arrived in a district they assembled the peasants, and marched
them off to the town they meant to attack, to employ them upon the
siege works. The terror and desolation were so general that the captive
was deemed luckier than he who lived at home. The chieftains also were
obliged to assist with their retainers in the siege of the towns. Those
who refused were attacked in their castles, and with their clients were put
to the sword.*

From Nessa Tugachar advanced to Nishapoor. This was in
November, 1220. On the third day of the siege, however, he was killed
by an arrow shot from the ramparts. The general who succeeded him
deeming his army too weak to capture the city, raised the siege and
divided his army into two sections. One laid siege to and captured
Sebzevar, whose inhabitants to the number of 70,000 were destroyed.
The other overran the district of Thus or Toos, and captured the strong-

• P'Ol^son, i. 177.

JINGIS KHAN. 87

holds there. Inter alia the forts of Kar and Nokan. The inhabitants
were pitilessly slaughtered.* This body of Mongols now seems to have
joined Subutai and Chep6 Noyan.

Meanwhile Tului was advancing with the main army. He successively
occupied Andekuh and Serukhs and proceeded to attack Mem
Shahjan, j>., Mem the king of the world,t one of the four chief
cities of Khorassan, and one of the oldest cities in the world. It
had been the capital of the great Seljuk Sultans Melikshah and Sanjar,
and was very rich and populous. It was situated on the banks of the
Meri el rond, also called the Murjab. It was at this time troubled by
internal dissension, and by the attacks of neighbouring Turkomans.
The Mongols first attacked and destroyed or dispersed the Turkomans
who camped outside the city. The siege commenced on the twenty-fifth
of February, 1221. The governor of the town was Mojir-ul-mulk. After
attempting two unsuccessful sorties he sent a venerable mkra as an envoy
to the Mongol camp. He retumed with such fair promises that the
governor himself repaired to the camp, and was loaded with presents ; he
was asked to send for his chief relations and friends ; when these were
fairly in his power, Tului ordered them all, including the governor, to be
killed. The Mongols then entered the town, the inhabitants were ordered
to evacuate it with their treasures ; the mournful procession, we are told,
took four days to defile out. The Mongol prince was seated on a golden
throne in the midst of the plain, and ordered the principal military chiefs
to be decapitated before the people. The rest of the captives were dis-
tributed among the army, and a general and- frightful massacre ensued ;
only 400 artisans and a certain number of young people were reserved as
slaves. The author of the JhankusJiai says that the Seyid Yzz-ud-din, a
man renowned for his virtues and piety, assisted by many people, were
thirteen days in counting the corpses, which numbered 1,300,000. Ibn al
Ethir says that 700,000 corpses were counted. The town was sacked,
the mausoleum of the Sultan Sanjar was rifled and then burnt, and the
¥^alls and citadel of Mem levelled with the ground.

The ferocity of the massacre can only be appreciated by its mere after-
thought, 5,000 poor wretches had escaped in holes and comers of the city.
They some time afterwards ventured out and were put to the sword by
the detachments sent to recmit Tului's army. Tului next advanced upon
Nishapoor, the ancient capital of Khorassan. Its name in Persian means
the city of Sapor. It is situated twelve days' journey from Mem. It had
been twice destroyed in less than a century ; in 1 1 53 by the Oghuz Turks,
who had revolted against the Sultan Sanjar, and in 1208 by an earthquake.
Its inhabitants had not spared the various bodies of Mongol troops that
came their way, and they now prepared a vigorous defence. Their ramparts
were armed with 3,000 ballisters to shoot javelins with and 500 catapults.

* D*0hM0ii« i. 378. t Wolff, 87.

88 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Tului, who was exasperated by the death of Tugachar Gurgan, his
brother-in-law, who had been killed by an arrow from the ramparts while
laying siege to the town the previous year, collected a great siege train,
3,000 ballisters, 300 catapults, 700 machines for throwing naptha (? Greek
fire), 4,000 ladders, and 2,500 loads of stones,* and he proceeded to lay
waste all the province of which Nishapoor was the capital. The inhabit-
ants began to grow frightened, and sent an embassy of im4ms and
notables, having at their head the chief judge of Khorassan, to offer to
surrender the city, and to pay an annual tribute. Tului refused all terms,
and ordered the assault ; after two days' cannonade the walls were
pierced with seventy breaches, and the Mongols rushed in on every side ;
a terrible combat ensued in the streets, the widow of Tugachar, daughter
of Jingis, at the head of 10,000 men leading the avenging force; the
carnage lasted four days. To prevent the living hiding beneath the
dead, Tului ordered every head to be cut off, and separate heaps to ,he
made of men's, women's, and children's heads. The destruction of the
city occupied fifteen days ; it was razed to the ground, and its site was
sown with barley, only 400 artisans escaped, and they were transported
into the north. According to Mirkhond 1,747,000 men lost their lives in
this massacre.t The capture of Nishapoor took place in April, 1221, two
months after the death of the Sultan Muhammed. Four or five years
later the Sultan Jelal-ud-din, who had recovered possession of Persia,
farmed out the right to seek for treasure among the ruins of Nishapoor
for 30,000 dinars a year, and as much as this sum was sometimes recovered
in one day. J

Tului now marched upon Herat, situated five days' journey south-east
of Nishapoor, a beautiful city surrounded with villages and gardens. On
his way thither a detachment of his forces destroyed, near the town of
Thus, the tomb of the Kaliph Harun el Raschid, and that of Ali el Razi,
a descendant of the Kaliph Ali, for whom the Persian Mahometans or
Shias had an especial veneration. Another detachment ravaged Kuhustan.
At length Tului appeared before Herat. After eight days' attack and the
death of its governor, it offered to capitulate. Tului promised to spare
the lives of its inhabitants if they surrendered immediately, ;and he was
so far honest on this occasion that he contented himself with destroying
only 12,000 men, the dependents and soldiers of the Sultan Jelal-ud-din.
He appointed a Mahometan prefect and a Mongol governor to the town,
and eight days later received orders to join his father at Talikh&n.

The effects of such a devastation of a whole province cannot be properly
estimated in these latitudes. In Khorassan the desert has ever been
encroaching more or less on the cultivated land, and it is only by the
persistent labour of many hands that it is held back at many points, and

* D*Ohsson, i. aSg.
t Erdratnn, 4^0. I D'Ohsson, i. 291.

JINGIS KHAN. 89

when these hands arc destroyed by the hundred thousand, the ruin must
become deplorable.

When the Mongols were overrunning Khorassan a small tribe of
Turkomans called Kayi Kankali fled and took refuge in Asia Minor ; they
became the nucleus of the Ottoman Turks.

Jelal-ud-din, after his flight from Urgendj, had reached Ghazni in
safety. There his partisans hastened to meet him. His father-in-law,
Khan Melik, the late governor of Meru, brought him 40,000 horsemen,
probably Kankalis ; Seif ud din Agruk, a Turkoman chief, brought his
Turkomans aud Kalladjes (the latter a mixed race of Arabs and Turko-
mans who wandered between the Indus and Ganges) ; the governor of
Kabul and Aazam Melik brought their forces ; and thus Jelal-ud-din
found himself at the head of from 60,000 to 70,000. When Jingis, who
had captured Talikhan and sunmiered his cavalry in the Kunduz
mountains around it, heard of this he set out for Bamian, in the Hindu
Kush, but he foimd it a more difficult place to capture than he expected.
The inhabitants had laid waste the country for four or five miles round,
and also removed the stones from its neighbourhood, so that the Mongols
might have no missiles. As it was likely that he would be delayed there,
he sent on a contingent of 30,000 men, under Siki Kutuktu and four other
generals,* to attack the young Sultan, who was encamped with his troops
at Peruan or Birwan, one da/s march from Ghazni. A fierce and well-
contested battle was fought for two days between the rival forces, when
the Mongols at length gave way and fled, and most of them were killed
in the broken ground that hindered their retreat. They were always
great at ruses, and on this occasion are said to have stuffed manikins
made of felt with straw and put them on horseback, to increase the
apparent strength of their army. Jingis Khan, like all great commanders,
was very lenient to his beaten generals. He knew too well the fickleness
of fortune in war, and he seems to have contented himself on this occasion
with a homily on the danger of officers who were intoxicated with victory
growing careless.

The Sultan was prevented from improving his victory by the quarrels
of his subordinates. Amin Melik and Seif ud din Agruk disputed about
an Arab horse, part of the captured booty, and the former struck the
latter on the head with a whip, and as he could not get redress,
he retired with 20,000 to 30,000 Kankalis into Beloochistan. Amin Melik
shortly after also left him, and retired to Herat.t Meanwhile Jingis had
pressed the siege of Bamian and had captured it. Moatugan, son of
Jagatai, and one of his favourite grandsons, perished during the siege,
and a terrible vengeance was extorted. Every living creature, including
animals and plants as well as human beings, was destroyed, a heap of
slain was piled up like a mountain ; and the site of the desolated town

* Erdmann, 427. t Wolff, gz, 92.

90 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.j

was renamed Mobalig, />., the city of woe. The mother of Moatugan
especially distinguished herself by her ferocity.* It remained a desert
for loo years.t Having captured Bamian, Jingis pressed on to retrieve
the disaster which had overtaken his forces near Ghazni. In going over
the battle-field, he pointed out to his officers what he considered to be the
mistakes in the conduct of the unfortunate battle. He advanced rapidly,
and his troops for two days had not time to cook food. He arrived at
Ghazni fifteen days after the Sultan had left it, and having left a governor
there he marched on towards the Indus. Jelal-ud-din had not yet crossed
the river ; his little army was surrounded by the Mongols, whose forces
were disposed in semicircles round it, having their wings resting on the
river, which thus formed a chord. The fighting was desperate, but the
Turks were everywhere beaten. The Sultan made a last desperate charge,
which was unavailing ; he then mounted a fresh horse, and having taken
off his cuirass, he jumped with it into the river, which flowed twenty feet
below, and with his shield on his back and his standard in his hand he thus
swam across. Jingis Khan could not help admiring the deed from the
banks, and pointed it out to his sons for an example. Muhammed of
Nessa tells us that Jelal-ud-din kept his faithful charger till the taking
of Tiflis in 1226 without mounting him, in remembrance of his services
on this occasion.

This struggle took place in the month Redsheb of the year 618 of the
Hegira, />., in August or September, 1221.} The Sultan's harem fell into
the hands of the Mongols, who killed all his sons. He had cast much
gold and treasure into the river, and a portion of it was recovered by
means of divers.

Jelal-ud-din reached the opposite bank of the Indus in safety. There
he was joined by the feeble debris of his army (chiefly Khuarazmiens)
which had been able to cross the river. He made a raid into the country
for arms and clothes, defeated an Indian prince, and on the news that the
Mongols were still pursuing, he retired towards Delhi. Jingis sent his
two generals Bt51a and Durbai in pursuit ; they proceeded to invest
Multan, but as it held out bravely, and they were afraid of the terrible
summer weather there, they retired again to Ghazni, after ravaging the
provinces of Multan, Lahore, Peshawur, and Melikpur.§

Jingis now determined to retire towards the north along the banks of
the Indus, but in order that the Sultan Jelal-ud-din might find no strong-
hold he despatched his son Ogotai to destroy Ghazni. According to
Mongol habit, the inhabitants were ordered to leave the city, and were
then murdered.

While Jingis retired northwards his son Jagatai made a raid into
Kerman in pursuit of Rokn-ud-din, a brother of Jelal-ud-din. He

• Wolff, 9a. t Erdmann, 423. D'Ohsson, i. 294. I Wolff, 93

i Erdmann, 432.

JINGIS KHAN. 91

advanced as far as Tez, on the borders of the Indian Ocean, passed
through Beloochistan, where he wintered, and where he also lost a large
number of his soldiers, and returned by the mountain land of the
Afghans, were he was joined by Bela Noyan, who had been sent across
the Indus, as I have mentioned. Having made this hazardous and
difficult excursion, he rejoined his father in the early part of 1222. Of
the vast dominions of the Khuarezm Shahs the only portion that had not
felt the pressure of the Mongol heel was that comprised in the provinces
of Fars, Luristan, Kuhistan, and Kurdistan.*

I have yet to describe one of the most savage and terrible acts of the
invaders.

When the news of Jelal-ud-din's victory over the Mongol Siki Kutuktu
reached Herat it rebelled and appointed its own governor. Jingis blamed
Tului for not having swept out its inhabitants when he captured it. He
sent his general Ilshidai Noyan with 80,000 men against it, who
blockaded it on all sides. The defence was kept up with spirit, and
the besiegers suffered great loss. But, as usual, dissensions broke out in
the garrison, and after a siege of a little more than six months Herat was
captured.

For a whole week the Mongols ceased not to kill, bum, and destroy,
and it is said that 1,600,000 people were killed ; the place was entirely
depopulated and made desert. The Mongols then retired. Soon after
they sent back a body of 2,000 to seek out and destroy any of the inhabit-
ants who had escaped the former massacre. Over 2,000 were thus dis-
covered and put to death. After the Mongols had fairly retreated, forty
persons assembled in the great mosque — the miserable remnants of its
once teeming population.t Of the celebrated men who had formerly lived
at Herat only one survived, namely, Khalib Mulawa Scheref ud din.J

Mem had been partially reoccupied, and had received a garrison com-
manded by an officer of Jelal-ud-din. This was enough to bring down
upon it the vengeance of the Mongols ; a detachment was sent against
it, who searched its corners for forty days to find victims, and slaughtered
them mercilessly. Some of the inhabitants hid away in the ruins ; the
barbarous general ordered the muezzin to be sounded, and as each
Mussalman emerged to go to prayer he was killed; only a few individuals
remained among the ruins, and Meru continued to be a mere collection of
debris tmtil the day of Shah Rukh, the son of Timur, who had it
rebuilt

Jingis Khan did not stay long near the Indus, he was afraid the deadly
summer heats might destroy his army. He would seem also to have been
nervous about a revolt near his home land, viz., in Tangut or Hia. He
retired to Peruan, where he spent the summer of 1222 ; there he began
his administrative measures by appointing civil governors (Darugas) to

* Wolff, 94. t Wolff, 94. I Brdmimn, 425-

92 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

the various conquered towns ; he wintered about the sources of the
Indus, where an epidemic attacked his army. He now determined to
return home to Mongolia, and before setting out disencumbered his army
of prisoners by a general massacre, whose ferocity may be judged of by
the fact that in each tent there were^ ten or twenty captives. Having
crossed the mountains of Bamian, he passed the sunmier in the district
of Bakalan, where he had sent his principal baggage. In the autumn he
resumed his march, on passing Balkh he killed the miserable and starving
wretches who had occupied its ruins; he then crossed the Oxus and
advanced to Bokhara ; there he summoned the Muhanmiedan doctors to
explain to him their faith, of which he generally approved, except of the
pilgrimage to Mecca, saying that the whole world is the house of God,
and that prayers will reach Him wheresoever they rise. On his arrival at
Samarkand he ordered the public prayers to be said in his name, as he
had conquered the Sultan Muhammed. Before he crossed the Jaxartes
he ordered the mother and other members of the family of Muhammed to
wail a long farewell to Khuarezm, while the army defiled past.

The scene of desolation that must have presented itself in the northern
borderland of Persia at this time is terrible. From the banks of the Oxus
to Asterabad every town of any importance was reduced to ruins, and its
inhabitants slaughtered. Von Hammer has extracted two pathetic
passages from two of the lucky authors who escaped the general slaughter,
namely, the celebrated mystic Sheikh Nedshmeddin Daye and the geo-
grapher Jakut, which describe with all the pathos of the Persian language
the desert created by the Mongols.*

Juji, the eldest son of Jingis, had never forgiven his brother Jagatai
their quarrel before Khuarezm, which led to him, the eldest son, being
supplanted as commander by his younger brother Ogotai. He had nursed
his rage in the deserts of Kipchak. Jingis ordered him to join him at a
place called Kelan Bashi, and to drive before him a grand battue of
game, that he might enjoy his favourite sport of hunting. He did not go,
but his troops formed a grand circle, according to the Mongol custom,
and enclosed a vast area of country, the circumference was gradually
drawn in and the game, chiefly wild asses, driven towards the spot fixed
upon by Jingis, where he sported to his heart's content

About the same time Jagatai and Ogotai went to hunt Kukus and
Karaguls (/>., wild swans and antelopes), and sent their father a present
of fifteen camel loads of the former.t On the banks of the Imil he was
met by two of his grandsons, afterwards very celebrated, namely, Kubilai
and Khulagu, one eleven, and the other nine years old. They had killed
their first game, and according to Mongol custom, Jingis pricked their
middle fingers to mbc some blood with their food and drink, a kind of
baptism of the chase. Later on he gave his army a fSte, in a place called

* Golden Horde, 76-78. t Brdmano* 437.

JINGIS KHAN. 93

Buka Suchiku, and reached his Ordu or home in the month of February,
1225.

On the way he was joined by his two generals Chepe and Subutai, who
after their pursuit of the Sultan Muhammed had made a daring expedition
into the west, which I must now describe.

We have traced their steps as far as the capture of Ilak, where the
dowager Sultana and the Sultan's harem were captured. Thence they
marched against Rai, the ancient Rages, whose ruin-heaps still remain
not far from Teheran. There they found the inhabitants engaged in one
of those religious feuds which disintegrate Muhanmiedan society so
seriously. Among the MuhanMnedans there are four orthodox rites :--i,
That of the Imam Abu Hanefi ; 2, That of Ibn Hanbal ; 3, That of Shafei ;
and 4, That of Melek, and they are divided chiefly in regard to the inter-
pretation of the Koran. At this time the Abu Hanefi and the Shafei sects at
Rai were engaged in a great feud. With abominable treachery, the Kadhi
of the town, who was a Shafeit, had two of the gates opened, the Mongols
were let in and let loose upon the rival sect, who constituted one-half of
the inhabitants, and who now perished miserably. The Mongols then
turned on the traitors, arguing plausibly that they could not count on the
fidelity of those who thus deceived their own brothers.* The same feud
led to the same result at Kum, some distance south of Rai. This was cap-
tured by Chepe, who had separated from his companion, and afterwards
continued the bloody raid upon the towns of Irak, Dinawar, Sawa, Holwa
Nehawend, and the far-famed capital of the ancient Medes Ecbatana.t
Meanwhile Subutai captured Kazvin, and then advanced, plundering,
through the province of Dilem upon Azerbaidjan, which, together with
Arran, were then ruled by the Atabeg Uzbeg,t an old man, and much
addicted to wine ; he bought off the Mongols by a present of silver, rich
garments, horses, &c.

The Mongols then evacuated Azerbaidjan, and wintered in the rich
plains of Mogan on the shores of the Caspian. In the spring of the
following year they advanced into Georgia. Their advance guard was
formed of Turkish and Kurdish auxiliaries, whom they readily enlisted
in a campaign against the Christian Georgians. They advanced as far
as Tiflis, ravaging everywhere, and ending by severely defeating the
Georgian army. They then levied a second contribution upon Tebriz,
and afterwards attacked the town of Meraga. Here, as elsewhere, they
placed their captives in the front rank of the attacking party, and com-
pelled them to bear the brunt of the assault. So stupified had the
inhabitants of Persia become by the Mongol s;uccesses, that we are told
that in Meraga one Mongol entering a street where there were 100
individuals, proceeded to kill them all without any resistance. This was
in March, 1222. §

* ErdmmiD, 395. Wolff, 85. t Wolff, 86. I D'OhMon, i. 335. ^ Wolff, 86.

94 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

The Mongols now advanced upon Hamadan, whose inhabitants had
killed the governor they had placed there. Headed by the Fakih they
made a brave resistance, but were at length beaten ; the city was taken
and burnt, and its inhabitants slaughtered.

The same fate awaited Serab and Bailekan, towns of Arran, while the
courage of the inhabitants of Gunja, capital of that province, and of Tehrii,
was so renowned that it preserved them from a worse fate than the pay-
ment of heavy contributions. Georgia, which was then governed by
Ruzudan, daughter of the celebrated Queen Thamar, was overrun and
terribly ravaged. The Georgian accounts say that the Mongols advanced
into the country with the cross at their head, in the guise of Christians.
This tradition accords well with the ever-ready and versatile strategy of
those conquerors. Having ravaged Georgia, they turned upon Shirvan,
captured Shamaki, its capital, and then Derbend, all except the citadel
where Raschid, the Shah of Shirvan, had taken refuge. He purchased
his independence by furnishing the Mongols with guides in their march
across the Kaukasus.

They cut off the head of one of these pour encourager les autres, if
they should prove treacherous ; but, notwithstanding this, we are told
they led them into the dangerous defiles of Daghestan, where they were
hemmed in by a combined army of Lesghs, Circassians, and a section of
Kipchaks or Comans. The latter were Turkish nomades, who then
lorded it over the steppes of south-eastern Russia.* Caught as it were in
a trap, the Mongols had recourse to their fox-like instincts. " We are
Turks like yourselves," they said to the Kipchaks, " and are you allied
against your brethren with these strangers. Make peace with us, and we
will give you gold and rich garments, as much as you list." Seduced by
these words, the Kipchaks deserted their allies, who were attacked and
vanquished, and the towns of Tarku (the ancient Semender) and Terki,
now Mosdok, were devastated.!

Kotiak was then the chief Khan of the Kipchaks, Poloutsi, or Comans.
He is called Kotian by the Russians, and Koth4n or Kuthen by the
Hungarians. The section of them in the Caucasus was commanded by
Jurii Kontshakovitch, his brother, and Daniel Kotiakovitch, his son. The
reward of their treachery was the usual Mongol one of being attacked
and dispersed, the two princes just named being killed. The Mongols
now continued their advance, plundered and partially destroyed Hadshi
Tarkan, the modem Astrakhan on the Volga, and then proceeded against
the main body of the Kipchaks. This was defeated. The invading army
now divided into two sections, one pursued the Kipchaks to the Don, the
other advanced by the sea of Azof, crossed the frozen Bosporus into the
Krimea, where they plundered Sudak, the Genoese entrepdt in the Krimea,
a rich and flourishing city ; and then returning by way of Perekop, joined

* Bee author's paper on the Comans, Ethnological Journal, ii. 83. t See Wolff.

JINGIS KHAN. 95

their brethren on the Don. The Kipchaks retired towards Kief and
Chemigof to seek assistance from their former victims the Russians.
Russia was then bounded on the south-east by the Oka ; it was divided
into several principalities, of which the chief at this time was that of
Novgorod, whose Grand Duke Yaroslaf was more or less accepted as
feudal lord over the rest.

But the most vigorous of the Russian princes, the one who stands out
as a chief actor in the many civil wars that at this time desolated Russia,
was Mitislaf, Prince of Gallicia, the son-in-law of the Coman Khan
Kotiak.

Kodak reported at Kief the advance of the terrible enemy. He pre-
sented the Russian princes with camels, horses, buffaloes, and beautiful
slaves, and told them the Mongols had taken their land, and that that of
the Russians would suffer the same fate. The astonished princes asked
who these strangers, hitherto unknown> were. Some called them Taur-
mains, others Petch^negs, others again Tartars. The more superstitious
recounted how the barbarians, defeated by Gideon 1,200 years before
Christ, were to reappear at the end of the world from their deserts and to
conquer the whole earth.* Mitislaf assembled the princes of Southern
Russia at Kief, and it was determined unanimously to march against the
invaders, much to the joy of the Comans, one of whose princes named
Basti embraced Christianity. They assembled their forces at Zarub and
the isle of the Varagians (places whose exact sites are unknown),t on the
Dnieper. There they received ten ambassadors from the Mongols, who
spoke thus: "We understand that, seduced by the statements of the
Comans, you are marching against us. But we have done nothing against
the Russians, we have not taken your towns or villages, and our sole inten-
tion is to punish the Comans our slaves. For a long time they have been
enemies of the Russians. Side with us, therefore, and take a signal ven-
geance upon these barbaiians, and seize their wealth.'' This message was
accepted, says Karamzin, as a sign of weakness or as a ruse. Doubtless
as the latter, for the recent treachery of the Mongols in the Caucasus
must have been known. At all events, the ambassadors were barbarously
murdered. Others were sent. " You have preferred the counsel of the
Poloutsi, you have killed our envoys. Well, as you wish for war, you
shall have it. We have done you no harm. God is impartial, He will
decide our quarrel.'*J

The Russians assembled their forces in large numbers from Kief,
Smolensk, Pultowa (?), Kursk, and Trubtchevsk. The Volhynians and
Gallicians came in a thousand boats, on which they sailed down the
Dniester to the sea, and then up the Dnieper to the island Chortiza,
called the Isle of St. George by Constantine Porphyrogenitus. There
also came some bodies of Poloutsi. The Russians numbered some

* K«nunzin» iii. 3S4. t Wolff, 107. I Karamzin, iii. 286.

96 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

82,000 men. Mitislaf, with an advance guard of 10,000, impatient to
meet the enemy, went on ahead, overtook a body of Mongols under
Hamabek, and defeated them ; their leader was found hidden in a ditch
or hole among the kurgans or mounds on the steppe, and was beheaded.*
The main body now crossed the Dnieper, and after a nine days' march
(Abulghazi says ten and Raschid twelve) arrived at the river Kalka, the
modem Kaleza, near Mariupol, in the government of Ekaterinoslaf.
Mitislaf, who was wishful, probably, of monopolising the glory of the
campaign, ventiired to attack the main body of the Mongols with only one
division. The Russians fought splendidly, but their feeble allies, the
Poloutsi, broke away, and this caused the rest to retire also. The Mongols
pursued them mercilessly. Six princes, a celebrated paladin named
Alexander Popovitch, and seventy nobles perished. Of the contingent
from Kief alone 10,000, says Karamzin, were left on the field of battle,
while the faithless Poloutsi used the occasion for plundering their unfor-
tunate allies. Mitislaf, to whom reverse was something new, seemed
beside himself. Having crossed the Dnieper himself, he caused the
boats to be destroyed in order to prevent pursuit. In the general route
one leader held his ground, this was Mitislaf Romanovitch, Prince of
Kief, who had intrenched himself on the Kalka, and resisted fcr three
days the assault of the Mongols, they at length proposed to allow him to
escape on paying a ransom ; but in their usual fashion they broke faith,
aCnd put him to death and slaughtered all his followers. They smothered
three of the princes under planks and held a feast over their bodies.

The pursuit was again renewed. In vain the inhabitants of the towns
and villages submitted, humbly going to their camp with their crosses,
but no pity was shown. Their grim maxim, surely the most cynical of all
ferocious war-creeds, was that " The vanquished can never be the friends
of the victors, the death of the former is necessary therefore for the safety
of the latter."t Luckily for the Russians their foes did not prolong their
stay, but returned to meet their master. Before retiring they appear to
have made a raid upon Great Bulgaria, on the Kama and Middle Volga,
then the Hudson's Bay territory of the Old World, which supplied furs,
honey, wax, and fossil ivory to the luxurious courts, both Christian
and Muhammedan, of the Eastern World. Gorged with booty, the two
Mongol generals retired through the country of Saksin, along the river
Aktuba, on whose banks Serai, the capital of the Golden Horde, was
afterwards built. De Guignes says that on crossing the Volga they
defeated the Kankalis there, and killed their Khan Hotose.J

The victorious march of Chepe and Subutai must rank among the most
wonderful military exploits related in history. A hundred years before
Nusitagir Hi, the Gurkhan of Kara Khitai, is said to have performed the
feat of marching round the Caspian, and it was certainly imitated 180 years

* Kannuin, a88. t Karanuin, 291. J De Guignes, iv. 6x.

JINGIS KHAN. 97

later by Timurlenk ; but in these two cases the conqueror was the master
of a vast empire, and had not half a dozen expeditions on his hands at
the same time, while Chepe and Subutai were but subordinate officers.
The former did not long survive, but died shortly after his return home,
with the reputation of a great warrior.* The main cause of the Mongol
success was doubtless the terror and panic they created by their
unflinching vengeance whenever resisted.

It is marvellous how miserably decrepit the Turkish and other
opponents of the Mongols had become. In 1224 a small body of 3,000
Mongols was able to once more destroy Rayi, to do the same to Kum
and Kashan, and to overrun and pillage the great provinces of Irak
Adjem and Azerbaidjan, although opposed to much more numerous bodies
of Khuarezmians and other Turks. The provinces of Khorassan and Irak
Adjem were made desolate by these continued invasions; according to
Juveni there did not remain one-thousandth part of their old inhabitants,
and he added, that if nothing interfered with the growth of the
population in these two provinces it would not between his day and the
day of doom amount to one-tenth of what it did before the Mongol
invasion. Their savage mode of warfare would excuse the tales that
were told at Byzantium that they had dogs' heads and lived on human
fiesh.t

Jingis had hardly reached his Ordu before he had to deplore the death
of his eldest son Juji. He left by his various wives and concubines about
forty children, and his descendants, after ruling the Golden Horde for a
long period, are still obeyed by the Kazaks, Uzbegs, Nogays, and other
fragments of the Golden Horde.

While Jingis Khan was conquering the countries south of the Oxus, his
great general Mukuli prosecuted the war in China. I have described
how he set out and the troops he was entrusted with.

The former campaign of Jingis in China had only produced transient
results, and the Mongols had to evacuate all their conquests there except
the town of Chungtu and the northern edge of Pehchehli and Shan-si.
The country was everywhere reoccupied and fortified by the Kin soldiers.
During the Mongol attack, the Sung dynasty, which had its seat at
Hangchau, the chief town of Chekiang, and ruled over China south of
the river Hoei in Honan, refused to pay its customary tribute to the Kin
emperors, and to punish this defection the latter, on the retreat of the
Mongols, sent an army which ravaged the northern portion of the Sung
territory. It was at this juncture, and in 12 17, that Mukuli advanced
against the Kin empire. He captured several towns of thfi province of
Pehchehli. The next year he advanced into Shan-si, whose capital, Tai-
tung-fu, he took after a vigorous attack, the governor committing suicide
before the surrender. During the year 12 18 he took the eight principal

* Wolff, xxo. t Pachymeres, i. 87. D'Ohnon, i. 332.

98 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

towns of Shan*si, and the following year completed the conquest of this
great province, while a renegade Kin general subjected Pchchchli.

The Kin empire was being ground between two millstones, for while
the Mongols were pressing it so hard in the north the troops of the Sung
were harassing its southern frontier. Utubu, the Kin emperor, now
sent to Mukuli asking for terms. The only terms the Mongol general
would listen to were, that Utubu should content himself with the province
of Honan, take the title of Prince of Honan, and resign the rest of his
empire. To this he would not listen. So the Mongols continued their
attack. They defeated a large army in the province of Shantung, a great
number of the Kin soldiers being driven into the Yellow River. They
then laid siege to Tungping, which resisted their arms for a long time,
and only surrendered in June, 1221. Mukuli had now conquered nearly
all the country north of the Yellow River, and he determined to invade
Ho«nan. In order to do so he required to capture several strong places in
Shen-si, especially the famous pass of Tung kuan. In November, 1221,
he accordingly crossed the Yellow River, probably into the modem Ortus
country,* then subject to the empire of Hia or Tangut. He demanded a
contingent of troops from the Tangut sovereign. These were sent to
him, to the number of j;o,ooo men, and he then proceeded to overrun
Shen-si, most of whose cities he captured during the year 1222. TTic
following year Mukuli died in the midst of his successes; on his deathbed
he is reported to have said: "For forty years have I made war and fought
for my master in his great enterprises, and I was never defeated. My
only regret is that I have not yet captured Nanking.'^ A few months
after his death the Kin Emperor Utubu followed him to the grave.

The Chinese annals, translated by De Mailla, praise very highly the
military qualities of Mukuli, with three other of his generals, named
Qugurdshin, Berkul, and Tsilaku, he was styled Polipankuliu, which in
their language, he says, means the four sages. The descendants of these
four Mongols had comniand of the Imperial body guard. They were
called the four Kie sie (/.<?., the four intrepid ones).} De Guignes suggests
that it was probably the death of Mukuli that made Jingis return home,
in order that he might superintend the organization of his eastern army.

Northern China had been ruined by fifteen years of war, and the Kins
had entirely abandoned it and concentrated their forces on the south of
the Yellow River to defend the defile and fortress of Tung-kuan, that
commanded the road from Shen-si to Honan. Here were collected
200,000 men.

Meanwhile let us turn once more to the doings of Jingis.

He had been seven years away from his country, and when he returned
he appointed his son Jagatai, and Batu the son of Juji to govern his

* De Guignes, iv. 67. t Pien king or Kai foug fu, which was then the Nanking or

90Utbem capital of the Kin emperors. J De Mailla, ix. X05.

JiNGIS KHAi^. 9$

western conquests. His other sons Ogotai and Tului returned with hiijji
as did also Subutai Behadur, Chep6, Kosmeli, Kuba, the princes Pitu
and Watchen, Poyaoho, son of Alakush the Ongut chief, and the Idikut
of the Uighurs. He now held a grand reception.*

What a wonderful gathering that must have been. We are much
impressed in reading the history of the middle ages, with the effect of the
Crusades, which brought the parochial-minded chivalry of Western
Europe into contact with the land of so much gorgeous romance as the
East, and gave an impetus to thought and action, and an enlargement of
view that had more than aught else to do perhaps with the social and
mental revolution of the revival of learning. But what were the Crusades
as an experience to the journey of Jingis and his troops ? Bom and
accustomed only to the dreary steppe-lands of the Gobi desert, and its
girdle of pine-covered mountains, their triumphant march led them
through the very garden of Asia, among its most refined and cultured
inhabitants, and through its most prosperous cities. Every step must
have been a new chapter of romance, such as boys in England find in the
Arabian Nights, and the vast caravans of treasure that they carried back
with them must have been objects of intense wonder to the wives and
daughters of the returning warriors, as the tales they told of their
adventures must have seemed like the romances of ballad makers rather
than the truthful experiences of ingenuous soldiers. Nor were the crowds
of captives, chiefly artisans, a less important, if a somewhat less
picturesque, clement in the cavalcade. With them there went to the
furthest East all the knowledge and craft possessed by the Muhammedans,
and if we find the period of Mongol supremacy in China to be a period
of revival in art and manufacture, a period of great literary energy, we
must not forget what a number of names in the administration of that
period are Persian and Turkish ; and how the rubbing together of two
widely different civilisations, which have crystallised apart, such as those
of China and Persia, necessarily leads to a vigorous outburst of fresh
ideas and discoveries. Being the most potent example of the law con-
densed for us in the venerable proverb, that iron sharpeneth iron.

The King of Hia had latterly been coquetting with the Kin Emperor,
his neighbour on the east, and had refused to send his son as a hostage.
He is called Li te by the Chinese writers,t and is probably the same
person as the Shidurgho of Ssanang Setzen. Shidurgho is a Mongol word,
meaning open, straightforward, and answering to the Thibetan Srong.J
He had succeeded his father Li tsun hien only two years before, i.e.^
in 1223.

The empire of Hia was then very populous and very powerful. It is
dear from the elaborate preparations of Jingis, and also from the

* De Gujgntst ivt 64. t De Mailla, ix. 108. D'Ohsson, i. 370.

; Ssanang SeUen» 383

lOO HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

traditions preserved by Ssanang Setzen, that he looked upon this his
last serious campaign as a very important one. Hia, with Thibet, were
the especial homelands of Northern Buddhism, and had a quasi-sacred
and mysterious surrounding to the Mongols, which is curiously reflected
in the tales that Ssanang Setzen has preserved. Shidurgho's wife was a
great beauty, and her fame had reached the ears of the Mongol Khan,
who seems to have coveted her. He also resented the fact that the King
of Hia had failed to send his son as a hostage, and he now prepared to
attack him.

Ssanang Setzen tells us Shidurgho had a brown-coloured dog with a
black muzzle which could prophecy. When war was impending it used
to howl; when, on the contrary, peace was in store then it barked. Now
that Jingis returned home the dog began to howl, his master in fancied
security concluded that the beast was growing old and had lost its old
power.* I have said that the King of Hia was very powerful.

He could muster, according to the western writers, 500,000 men,
splendidly accoutred, and consisting of Chinese, Turks, Thibetans, &c.
Jingis had 180,000 men, which he divided into several divisions. 40,000
he gave to his son Jagatai, 30,000 to Chep^ and Subutai, 20,000
Khuarezmians to Ilenku, 20,000 Indians to the Noyan Bela, 30,000 Jetes
and Kipchaks to Bedr ud din, and 30,000 Khuarezmians to Danishmend.
Ogotai remained with the reserve, and Tului went off to see his family.t
The above enumeration gives a good idea of the heterogeneous
character of the later Mongol armies and the great mixture of races that
the conquests of Jingis produced.

He first detached Subutai to subdue the wild Sifan tribes dependent
upon Tangut, and De Mailla tells us that the tribes Kintcha-walo and
the Sessali, which had hitherto been independent, were conquered. J
Jingis set out from his Ordu in the spring of 1225. Having crossed the
Khang-hai-Khan chain, he first held a grand hunt about the sources of
the rivers Onghin and Tuigol, which lose themselves in the sands and
marshes of the Gobi desert.§

The Saga-loving Ssanang Setzen mentions various omens that attended
the Mongol hero's last campaign. During this hunt Jingis one day
observed : " In this district is a blue wolf (Burte shino) and a white
hart, catch them and bring them alive to me. Here also is a black man
on a blue-grey horse, do the same with him." These were found and
brought to him. He then addressed the man, *' Who are you, and why
are you here ? " " I am a friend of Shidurgho's,'' he said, " and he has
sent me for information. My name is Katuraktchi Kara Budung, and in
all Tangut there is none superior to me. I was captured unawares while
I laid my black head down to rest, and while my blue horse Guun Bolod,

* Ssanang Seuen, 97. t Erdmann, 439. J De Kailla, ix. 1x7.

* Wolff, 11a.

JINGIS KHAN. lOI

a racer whom no creature that has feet can catch, was tethered to the
ground by his four feet/' Jingis saw he was a brave man and spared his
life, and said, " People say your master is a Kubilghan (/.^., a regenerate
Buddha). Into what form can he convert himself?" The man
answered, "In the morning he changes himself into a black-striped snake;
at noon into a tawny-striped tiger ; and at night into a httle child, so that
man cannot injure him."

While Jingis marched with his army through the Mona Khan
mountain, which Wolff says was situated on the road from the desert to
Ninghia, north-west of the great bend in the Hoangho, he remarked :
** This would be a capital rallying place for a broken, and a capital camping
ground for a united and peaceable people. It is a beautiful grazing ground
for roebucks, and a charming resting-place for an old man."* While there
Jingis noticed an owl shrieking on a bough, and he told his brother
Kassar to kill it. The latter shot, but the owl escaped ; meanwhile a
magpie came in the line of fire, and the arrow which was aimed at the
owl brought it down. This was accepted as a bad omen, and Jingis was
in a great rage, and had his brother chained and watched by four men.
Then came the Orluk princes to him and said, " Master, the stains of the
vile ought not to foul the purity of the good. The most deserving and
distinguished often have the fate of the worthless. The fate of the
ill-omened owl has overtaken the magpie: let thy brother go."t
Jingis would have done so, but he had become jealous of him ; a slave
having slandered him by accusing him of intriguing with his wife
Chulan.

He then attacked the empire of Hia, first assaulting the emporium
of Akatshin, otherwise called Etsina.^ This he' captured in February,
1226. He then fell upon Suhchau and Kan chau, the latter was governed
by Kia-ye-kie-liu, whose son Saha had been brought up at the court of
Jingis. He had persuaded his father to deliver up the town, when the
latter was suddenly attacked and murdered by some rebels who defended
the place for some time. When it at length fell the lives of the inhabit-
ants were spared on the intercession of Saha, and only his father's
murderers were put to death.§ In the autumn of the same year, 1226,
he captured Si liang fu, Tsulu, and Holo, districts of the province of
Liang chau fu, that long finger-like western prolongation of Shensi,
which projects into the west between the country of Kokonoor and the
desert. He then crossed the country of Shato to the nine fords of the
Hoang ho, captured Ing li sien,|| and overran the country to the Yellow
River. The land was everywhere covered with bones, and only one or
two individuals in every hundred escaped massacre.^

De Mailla says that Li te, the King of Hia, now died with grief at

* Ssanang Setxen, 99. Wolff, xxa. t Stanang 8etzen, 99, lox. I De Guignes, iv. 68.
i Dc MaiUa, ix. 117. De Mailla, ix. 2x7. % D'Ohsaoo, i. 371.

I02 HISTORY OF TI^E MONGOLS.

seeing his coantry thus desolated by the Mongols, and was succeeded by
his son, whose Chinese title was Li hien. The narrative of Ssanang
Setzen only mentions one long, and calls him Shidurgho. Jingis Khan
continued his advance. He captured Ling chau, a town on the eastern
bank of the Yellow River, not far from Ning hia, the capital of Tangut
To relieve this town a large army of Tangutans marched. It is to this
occasion, apparently, that we must assign the bloody battle described by
Raschid as having been fought on the ice where the Hoang ho had over-
flowed its banks, and where the ntmiber of slaughtered Tangutans amounted
to 300,000 ! ! ! Three of the corpses stood on their heads, says Raschid, and
among the Mongols it is well established that among every 100,000 dead
men on the field of battle one body is to be found which stands on its
head.* This tremendous exaggeration of numbers is a proof of the slight
authority of the Persian historians of the Mongols in the accounts they
give of their campaigns on the Chinese borderland.

De Mailla merely says that the King of Hia entrusted all the forces he
could muster to his general Seuming-ling-kong, and told him to attack
the Mongols, but that Jingis crossed the Hoang ho and beat him. Tlie
story of Raschid about the man standing on his head is explained by
D'Ohsson, who says that when the Mongols slaughtered a large number
of people, in order to mark the number of the slain, a census in which
they gloried, they put a corpse on its head on some elevated point for
every thousand killed, and that on the capture of Tiflis in 1221, seven
such monuments signified the death of 7,000 individuals. The Tangutan
army on this occasion did not probably reach 50,000 men.t De Mailla
says that after this battle Jingis went and encamped at Yen chau tchuen.
Here he received the homage of Yao-lise, the widow of the late King of
Liau-tung, who now acted as regent. She was received with distinction
by Jingis, who himself offered her the cup to drink out of, and made a
grand eulogium on the bravery of her eldest son Hiuessd, who had
accompanied him in his western campaigns. On her entreaty he
appointed him King of Liau-tung, and dismissed her with a costly present
of nine Chinese prisoners, nine horses, nine silver bars, nine pieces of
silk, and other rich gifts in parcels of nine, which was a sacred number
among the Mongols.

Leaving some troops to watch the capital of Tangut, he captured Ki-
shi-chau and Liu tao fu; then turning to the north-west he ruined Tchao
ho chau and Sining. At the fifth moon, says De Mailla, Li hien, the
King of Hia, unable any longer to resist the Mongols, submitted to
Jingis, who carried him away in chains to Mongolia. Gaubil says, on
the contrary, that he was put to death by his own people before he
reached the camp of Jingis. Thus ended another empire with a long
history closely interwoven with that ot China, now desolated and covered

* RMchid, in D*Oh8ioo« i. 373- D'OhMon, op. cit., i. 373-4'

JINGIS KHAX. 103

with ruins, it was appropriated by the very cormorant of conquest the
Mongol Khan.

Jingis retired to summer his cattle in the mountains of Liupan,
situated twenty li west of Ku yuen chau, a town of Shan-si, in latitude 36
north, and longitude 10 west of Peking.* There he received as a present
from the Kin emperor, a plateau full of fine pearls, which he distributed
among those of his grandees who wore ear-rings, others had their ears
pierced in order to share the prize, while many remained over for a
general scramble. He was there also seized with a fatal disease. Of his
different sons only Tului was with him. He died on the i8th of
August, 1227, at the age of sixty-six. The Chinese and Persian historians
are apparently agreed in making Jingis die a natural death. This is not
the universal story, however. Marco Polo and the Syrian Abulfarag^us
say he was shot with an arrow and killed. They probably, as Colonel
Yule suggests, confused his death with that of Mangu Khan some years
later. Carpino says he was killed by lightning; Haiton, the Armenian,
that he was drowned ; but the Mongol historian Ssanang Setzen has the
queerest story — a story which illustrates well the kind of Sagas in vogue
among the Lamaists. He says : —

" When Shidurgo Khakan (the King of Hia) converted himself into a
snake, Jingis appeared as Garudi, the king of the birds ; and when the
former was changed into a tiger, the latter became the king of the four-
footed beasts, the lion ; and, lastly, when the former acquired the form of
a boy, the latter became Khormusda, the king of the Tegri or spirits, so
that Shidurgo fell into the power of Jingis without any effort. Then said
the former to the latter : — * If you kill me, it will bring evil upon you. If
you forbear, it will prove fatal to your posterity.' Jingis now tried to
strike, but he found he could not hurt him. He thereupon said, ' With a
conmion weapon you cannot harm me, but between by boot soles there is
a triple dagger, made of magnet, with which I may be killed.' With these
words he offered him the weapon, saying, * Now you may kill me. If milk
flows from the wound, it will be an evil token for you; if blood, then for
your posterity. Let me also counsel you. If you make my wife Kiu:-
beldshin Goa your own, probe her previous life diligently.* When
Shidurgo was pierced in the neck with the dagger he died, and Jingis
^propriated his wife and people.

" Every one wondered at the beauty of Kurbeldshin Goa, but she said:
* I was formerly much prettier, but am now grimy with dust from your
troops, when I have bathed in the river I shall renew my good looks.' As
she went down to the Kara Muren to bathe, a bird from her father's house
hovered over her, and allowed itself to be caught. She spoke aloud, and
said, * I am ashamed of bathing before all this company, let them begone.
I will bathe alone.' When they had left she called out, * I intend to seek

* D'ObBion, i. 375. De Mailla, iz. 127.

I04 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

my death in the Kara Muren. Let my body be searched for up the
stream, and not down.' She then let the bird escape, and it flew home to
tell her father.

** When she came out of the bath she had become much more beautiful.
The following night, when Jingis Khan lay asleep, she bewitched him, upon
which he became feeble and ill. She then arose, went down to the Kara
Muren and drowned herself, whence the Kara Muren to this day is called
Chatun Eke.

" When the bird related to her father, who was called Schang-dsa-wang-
Ja, of the tribe of U, he went and looked for his daughter's body. He
found it not, but found only one of her pearl embroidered socks. Over
this he raised a mound of earth, still called Temur Olcho.* Schmidt
remarks in a note that the upper Kara Muren is undoubtedly still called
Chatun Muren, or the maiden's river, by the Mongols, and that he had
found the name in several writings."

The whole story shows the mysterious atmosphere in which the
Lamaist faith surrounds its votaries, and what a peculiar halo attaches
to the memory of Jingis, who stands in Mongol legend much as Theseus
and other demigods did in the traditionary poetry of Greece. To
continue our story :—

" As he lay dying on his bed the old hero addressed Kiluken Behadur,
who was beside him : * Be you a faithful friend to my widowed Burte
Judjin, and to my two orphan sons Ogotai and Tului, and be ever true to
them without fear. The precious jadestone has no crust, and the polished
dagger no dirt upon it. The body that is bom is not immortal. It goes
hence without home or resting-place. This keep in everlasting memory,
the glory of an action is that it should be complete {i.e., whatsoever
thine hand findeth to do, dp it with all thy might). Firm and unbending
is the heart of the man who keeps his plighted word. Be not guided by
the wishes of others, so will you gain the goodwill of many. With me it
is clear that I must separate from you and go away. The words of the
boy Khubilai are very weighty. You, all of you, note his words. He
will some time occupy my throne, and he will, as I have done, secure you
prosperity.' "

Such is the story as told by Ssanang Setzen. The western chroniclers
make it out that Jingis collected his children and dependents about his
bed and gave them serious counsel. He bade his children cling together;
we are told he repeated to them the old parable of the bundle of sticks.
In his case, however, arrows took the place of sticks. He added another
fable not so well known in the west, namely, that of the snake with several
heads. One night during an impending frost it set out to seek shelter in
a hole, but on the way the heads began to quarrel and fight with one
another, and the result was that it was frozen to death ; not so the snake

* Ssanang Setzen, 103.

JINGIS KHAN. 105

with one head and many tails, this hid everything everyway safely in
the hole and was saved/ The moral is the same as in the previous
fable.

He appointed his brother Utshegin with a large force to prosecute the
war in China, for which he drew out an elaborate plan. He divided his
dominions among his sons : to Juji and his family were assigned the
country from Kayslik and Khuarezm as far as the borders of Bulghar and
Saksin, wherever the hoofs of Mongol horses had tramped ; Jagatai
received the country from the borders of the Uighur country as far as
Bokharia ; Ogotai had a special uluss north of this in the country of
Imil and Soongaria; to Tului was assigned the home-country of the
Mongols, the care of the Imperial hut and family, and the archives of the
State; but he set Ogotai Khan over the whole, and counselled
his brothers to obey him. If we are to credit some of the historians of
Timurlenk he made his sons renew the pact with the family of Kadshuli
Behadur, and seal it with their tamghas or seals.t He bade Jagatai,-
who was known to be of a severe disposition, see that his will was carried
out, and he lastly urged his people to exterminate the Tanguts and make
no terms with them. J

His body was secretly conveyed to Mongolia, and to prevent the news
of his death spreading, its escort killed every one they met. They only
published the news when the procession had reached the Great Ordu of
the Khan at the sources of the Kenilon. The body was successively
carried to the ordus of his various wives, where his many dependents
were summoned from all parts to do it honour ; some had to come a
journey of three months. After these funeral rites, the coffin was carried
to its burial-place. Raschid tells us that its escort killed all the travellers
met with on the way, ordering them to go and serve their lord in the
other world, and that forty noble and beautiful girls and richly
caparisoned horses were also sent for his service into the land of peace.§
Mandeville thus describes a funeral of one of the Grand Khans : — '* At
the spot where the funeral occurs they erect a tent, in which they place
the corpse on a wooden couch, and arrange before him a table delicately
served ; into this they drive a white horse richly caparisoned and with its
saddle on. They then place the tent with its contents in a hollow and
cover it over, so that no one can distinguish the place.'' This account
reads very like the accounts given by Arab writers of the Norse funerals
on the Volga in the tenth century. ||

Ssanang Setzen describes the body of Jingis, as removed to its
native land, the whole host escorting it, and wailing as they went.
Kiluken Behadur, of the Sunid tribe, one of the Khan's old comrades,
lifted up his voice and sang : —

*Erdinaika,44;2. t £rdmana,443. - t ErdmaoB. 443

S VaJe*s Karco Polo, i. 319. D'OhuoD, i. i92. || D'Ohsion, Les peupi^ du CanttUft 96,

O

I06 HISTORY OP THE MONGOLS,

Whilom thou didst ttoop like a falcon ; a mmbling wagon now tnindles thee off,

O my King.
Halt tbon in troth then forsaken thy wife and thy children, and the diet of thy people ?

O my King.
Circling in pride like an eagle whilom thou didst lead us

O my King.
Bnt now thou hast stumbled and fallen like an unbroken colt,

O my King.
For six-and-sizty years thou hast brought thy people peace and joy, and now dost thou leave
them?

O my King.*

To such a chaunt did the procession move towards the mountain Mona,
already named. There the wheels of the wagon sank in the blue clay so
that it stuck fast and refused to move on even when the strongest horses
of the five banners were fastened to it. The people began to grow
dejected, when the voice of Kiluken Behadur once more arose : —

" Thou lion of the celestial Tegri. Thou son of the Teg^. My own
Lord Bogda, wilt thou leave thy whole people here in this quagmire.
Thy wife so equally matched with thy noble birth ; thy solidly gprounded
state ; the authority of thy laws ; thy much attached people ; all are at
stake. Thy once beloved wife ; thy golden palace ; thy state founded on
right ; the assembled clans of thy people ; all are yonder far away.
Thy birthland ; the water in which thou wert wont to wash ; thy subjects,
the fruitful Mongol people ; thy many officers, princes, and nobles.
Deligun bulak, on the Onoji, where thou wert bom. They are yonder.
Thy standard made from the black horse's tail ; thy drums, cymbals,
trumpets, and fifes ; thy golden house and all its rich contents ; the
meadows of the Kerulon, the very place where thou mountedst the throne
as Khakan of the Arulad ; all are yonder. Burte Judjin, the choice wife
of thy early days ; Borchatu Khan, thy fortunate land, and all thy people ;
Bogordshi and Mukuli, thy two trusty friends ; thy consummate adminis-
tration ; all are yonder. Thy heavenly-bom partner, Chulan Khatun ;
thy lutes and flutes, and other musical instruments ; thy two charming
wives, Jissu and Jissuken ; thy golden palace cynosure of wonders ; all
are yonder. Hast thou, because the district of Kargina Khan is still
warm, because so many of the Tanguts are vanquished, and because
Kurbeldshin Khatun was beautiful, really left thy people, the Mongols,
in this fix. If we may not serve as a shield to thy noble life, we would at
least bear thy remains, which are fair as the noble jade stone, to their
last home, to show them to thy wife Burte Judjin, and to satisfy the
wishes of all thy people."

At the close of this monody, which has such a peculiar local colour, we
are told that the wagon once more began to move, and the pro-
cession, amidst cries and words of mouming, at length reached its goal.
There they raised a mound over the body, and built eight white houses as
places of prayer and invocation. The resting-place of the Great Khan

* Colonel Yule's Marco Polo, i. no.

JINGIS KHAN. 107

was called Yeke Utek, and it lay between the shadow side of the Altai
Khan and the sunny side of the Kentei Khan,*

Raschid names the place of his burial as Burkan Kaldun (God's Hill)
or Yekek Kuruk (the great sacred or Tabooed place); in another place he
calls it Nuda Undur, near the river Selinga. Burkan Kaldun is often
mentioned by Ssanang Setzen, and Pallas speaks of Burgin Galdat as the
place where the Onon springs.

Marco Polo names the burial-place of Jingis as the mountain Altai,
situated north-east of Karakorum ; Gaubil, from Mongol sources, places
it at a place called Han, situated 47.54 north latitude and 93 longitude
west of Peking; according to D'Anville's map there is a mountain
Kenteyhan on this spot, where the Onon takes its rise. This is clearly
the same mountain as the Khan oola of Pallas and Timkowsky, a lofty
mountain near Urga, covered with a dense forest. It is still held sacred
by the Mongols and guarded from access.t

Erdmann says that Jingis was buried at the foot of a tree which he
had noticed once while hunting, and had chosen as his burial-place.
This tree was remarkable at the time, but had been overtaken in size by
the rest of the wood, and become undistinguishable.J

Many of his descendants were buried on the same mountain, in the
midst of this forest, which was guarded by 1,000 men of the tribe Urian,
exempted from military service. Rich perfumes were burnt without
ceasing before the tablets of the princes. The place was only accessible
to the four great ordus of Jingis. §

Jingis had nearly 500 wives and concubines, among the latter were the
most beautiful captives and the most beautiful girls in the different
tribes, who were always set apart for the Khan and the princes ; each
captain presented the fairest in his company to his colonel, the colonel
to his superior officer, &c., and thus the cream of the whole nation was
sifted for the choice of the Khan.

Of the wives of Jingis, five held a supenor rank, the first of all was
Burta, who bore the Chinese title of Judjin, she was the daughter of Dai
Noyan, chief of the tribe Kunkurat, and was the mother of Juji, Jagatai,
Ogotai, Tului, and five daughters ; of these daughters, Kudshin Bigi, the
eldest, was betrothed to Sengun, son of Wang Khan, and afterwards
married Huladei Gurgan, son of Butu Gurgan, of the Kurulats. Jidjegan,
the second, married Turaldshi Gurgan, of the Urauts. The third,
Alakai Bigi, married Jingui, of the Onguts. The fourth, Tumalun,
Shengu Gurgan, of the Kunkurats. The fifth, Atalukan Jawer Sadshan,
of the 01konods.|| By his second wife, Chulan Khatun, he had a fifth
son named Gulgan.lT

I have now described the career of the great conqueror, whose renown

* Ssanang 8«tzen, 107, 109. t Yule's Marco Polo, i. 218. J Erdmann, 444.

i D*Ohsson, i. 381. | Erdmann, 445. f Erdmann, 445.

no HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

were bound by no oath, and however solemn their promise to the inhabit-
ants who would surrender, it was broken, and a general massacre
ensued. It was their policy to leave behind them no body of people,
however submissive, who might inconvenience their communications.
" They gloried," says the chronicler Vincent, " in the slaughter of men ;
blood to them was spilt as freely as water. They employed lies and
deception to delude their victims, and then destroyed them."* They had
no honour and no chivalry, a ruse to them was more creditable than an
open fight. If a desperate enemy resisted bravely they would open their
ranks to let him escape, until the disorder of retreat made the work of
destruction easy. They generally attempted to surround their enemies,
and as each man had several horses, could often weary them into defeat
They commenced the attack with their bows and arrows, and only used
their side arms to complete the victory. Their cavalry manoeuvred by
signals, and was very skilfully handled : the coward and the plunderer
were equally put to death.

In their expeditions the Mongols encamped to rest and recruit their
horses for a few months every year. Having laid waste a wide circle of
country round their camp, they then gave themselves up to exCess and
debauchery, waited upon by their young and beautiful captives, one of
whom, according to Vincent, was chosen before his death by each warrior
to be buried alive with him. As the hard and dangerous work was done
by the prisoners and captives, the lordly Mongols easily kept up their
strength in the most distant expeditions.

In time of peace Jingis counselled his soldiers to be quiet and gentle as
calves, but in war to rush on their enemies like hung^ falcons fall on
their prey.

The following reads almost Uke the military counsel of Napoleon ; in
speaking of his generals he said : " There does not live a braver man
than Yissutai, no march can fatigue him, he feels neither thirst nor
hunger, and he thinks his soldiers ought to be like himself ; this is why
he is not fit to command. It is necessary that a general should not be
insensible to either hunger or thirst, for he ought to be able to feel the
sufferings of his army. His marches should be moderate, and he ought
to feed well both his men and horses.*' " What is the greatest happiness
in life?" he one day asked his generals. One answered for the rest : " To
go a hunting on a spring morning mounted on a beautiful horse, carrying
on your hand a good falcon and watching it seize its prey." " No," said
Jingis, ** the greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them
before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed
in tears, to ride their horses, to clasp to your tosom their wives and
daughters." t

The chase Jingis held to be the school of war, and he advised his sons to

* D'Ohsson, i. 398. t D'Ohsson, i. 404.

JINGIS KHAN. Ill

spend the time of peace in hunting. The great Mongol winter hunt was
more like a military expedition than anything else. Orders were given
to the different tribes a month's journey off to extend themselves and
join on to one another, and thus enclose a huge ring ; the whole under,
the orders of skilled generals, and divided into a left and right wing and
centre ; the game was driven into an enclosure of two or three leagues in
circuit, made of felt hung on cords. The Khan first entered the ring with
his wives and suite, and when he was tired of killing, retired to an emi-
nence inside the cordon and watched the great chieftains hunt ; the whole
concluded by a general scramble of the commonalty. When only a few
victims were left, the old men came before the Khan and begged that
their lives might be spared to furnish more sport the next year ; eight
days were thus consumed in the general holiday.

Jingis organised a postal service on the grand routes, to facilitate tra-
vellers, couriers, and public officers in their travels ; the horses, carriages,
and food were supplied by the inhabitants, and the safety of the road was
protected by severe police regulations. For the first time probably in the
history of Asia it was possible to travel with perfect safety across the
steppes of Turkestan.

By his code of laws death was awarded to the homicide, the cattle-
thief, the adulterer, and those who dealt in unnatural crimes. The same
punishment fell upon those who for the third time lost the captives
entrusted to their keeping, those who concealed and harboured fugitive
slaves or lost goods, those who did not return, if they found them, the
arms of any who had lost them in combat, those who employed witch-
craft to harm others, those who intervened in a struggle between two
champions. Small thefts were punished with the bastinado, and torture
was freely used to force confession. In his code he preserved many curious
superstitious notions that the popular creed had sanctified. Thus it was
forbidden to make water in a stream or on ashes, to have props or legs to
a house, a table, or a chair, to wash the hands in running water. It was
forbidden to wash clothes, which were to be used till worn out ; cooking
and domestic vessels were not to be washed, and this custom still pre-
vails, according to Pallas, among the Kalmuks,* who always clean these
articles with dried grass or a piece of felt Carpino tells us they would
not touch fire with a knife, or take their food with the same implement
out of a kettle, or strike with a hatchet near a fire. To break these
rules was to bring misfortune, or to cause it to thunder, in the popular
eyes, and no doubt, as D'Ohsson remarks,t the origin of the prohibition
was originally a fear of offending the elements. In killing an animal it
must be laid on its back, an incision made in its belly, and the heart torn
out or squeezed with the hand; this practice is still that of the Kalmuks,
who attribute its introduction to Jingis Khan.J Those who killed animals

* Samm. Hiit. Nach, i. X31. t D'Ohaton, i. 410. Note. I Pallas, op. cit, i. 128.

112 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

in the Mussalmdn way must themselves be killed. The Mongols were
avaricious to the last degree, they only killed animals which were sick or
wounded ; their hands, the chroniclers Vincent and Carpino say, were
always open to take and closed to give. They ate almost anything ; rats
or dogs, &c,, were readily consumed. Jingis enjoined upon them all
hospitality, and at their feasts it was not permitted to refuse anyone to
join; the host must always taste the food before the guest (surely a
chivalrous notion to have been bom in the desert). He set his face
strongly against the Mongol weakness of drunkenness: " If you cannot
refrain, get drunk only three times a month," he said. "It would be
better never to get drunk at all, but, " says the philosophic and ingenuous
preacher of temperance, ** who can abstain altogether ?"^

Jingis counselled his sons to tolerate all creeds, telling them that it
mattered little to the Divinity how they honoured Him. He himself
believed in a Supreme Being, but he worshipped the sun, and was like his
compatriots, a Shamanist. He exempted from taxes the ministers of all
religions, the poor, doctors, and other wise men. The princes of the
blood addressed the Khan by his name, and in his orders, diplomas, &c.,
this name was unaccompanied by any honorary titles. His style was
simple and free from the nauseous rotundity and imagery of the Persians.
One of the secretaries of the Sultan Muhammed having entered his
service, he ordered him one day to write to the refractory Prince of
Mosul in these terms: "God has given me the empire of the wcrld;
those who submit and let my troops pass will save their lands, their
families, and goods ; the others, God knows what will happen, &c." The
secretary translated this into the fulsome phrases used by the Persians;
when this was literally translated to Jingis he turned round in a rage and
said: " You are a traitor, you have written this letter in such a manner
that the Prince of Mosul will only be more stubborn and audacious,''
and he put him to death .t

The laws of Jingis were written down by his orders in the Mongol
language and in the Uighur character, which he had caused the young
Mongols to be taught. This code was called Ulang-Yassa. It, doubt-
less, like many other celebrated codes which gained for their compilers
the character of originators, embodied the gathered and matured wisdom
and rules of life that prevailed among his people; and what he did was
probably little more than to stamp with express authority the traditional
and very ancient common-law code of the desert. Copies of it were
preserved in the archives of his descendants, who consulted them in all
difficult matters (no copy of it is apparently extant, but many of its
clauses have been preserved by Raschid-ud-din, Alai-ud-din, in Macrizi's
" Description of Egypt,'' and by the chronicler Vincent). Jingis charged
his son Jagatai, who had the character of severity, to carry out his laws;

* D*OhMon i. 413. t D'Ohtsoo, i. 414.

JINGIS KHAN. 113

foresaw, and it needed no very great instinct to see, what would happen
in one or two generations. "My descendants," he said, " will deck
themselves in brocaded robes, will feed on rich meats, ride splendid
horses, have beautiful wives, and they will not think of those to whom
they owe these good things."

If it be no small thing for any man to leave his footprint in the page
of history, his must surely have had an uncommon power who stamped
his mark so deeply and so lastingly on such a shifting, treacherous quag-
mire as the history of Asia, whose descendants ruled a very large portion
of it for so long, whose memory is still the theme of so many Sagas in
the lonely yurts of the scattered robbers of Central Asia ; and whose
institutions, if they were really his, are still the best models for a
nomadic people to be ruled by. It may be that he and his followers
tramped over the fairest portions of the earth with the faggot and the
sword in their hands, forestalling most terribly the day of doom, and
crumbling into ruin many old civilisations. His creed was to sweep
away all cities, as the haunts of slaves and of luxury, that his herds
might freely feed upon grass whose green was free from dusty feet. It
does make one hide one's face in terror to read that from 12 11 to 1223
18470,000 human beings perished in China and Tangut alone* at the
hands of Jingis and his followers : a fearful hecatomb, which haunts the
memory until one forgets the other features of the story. Yet although
a talmla rasa was created, a fresh story was also writ upon the page.
Nor must we forget, whatever creed we hold to, that whether it be by
pestilence or famine, or by the hands of such as Sesostris, Sennacherib,
Darius, Alexander, Caesar, Attila, Timur, Bonaparte, and their ilk, the
scourges of God seem inevitably to recur at intervals to purge the world
of the diseased and the decaying, the weak and the false, the worn out
and the blas^, the fool and the knave.

That as surely as the winter scatters the leaves, so surely does a time
come in human history when the fruits of human toil, the fairest it may
be that can be compassed by man, must be trodden under. The pelicans
and the storks that watch over the ruins of Mesopotamia, and a hundred
other such sites, are witnesses of our conclusion ; grim witnesses, too, of
the truth that "blood and iron** is neither a new creed nor one invented by
Jingis Khan. It may be that in his hands we see the steel more bright
and keen ; that he did not hide his work under the fantastic guise that
he was a champion of freedom, or of some other fine sounding pretence.
It is natural we should revolt against being worshippers of the wolfish
natures that are sent at times to fill the charnel-house of history with
bones ; but if we mete equal justice to the breed, and measure them not
so much by the ruin they created as by what they placed in the void.
If we measure them by their opportunities^ their antecedents, and their

• Wolff, in;

114 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

aims, and not by the feeble aesthetic standard some poets have created by
which to discriminate between the destroyers of mankind, we shall find
Jingis Khan towering head and shoulders above most of the rest. While
as to his thirst for blood, and the greedy draughts he took of it, we must
wait for an excuse till the g^eat day comes when men shall know why
suffering and misery are permitted at all, and why it has been allowed
to so many men, who have been styled great by their followers, to put
their heels upon the aqconmiodating neck of humanity, as if it had been
created to become their victim.

Note 1.— The Nine Orloks.— These celebrated chieftains who
accompanied the fortunes of Jingis from his early days to his days of
prosperity, and whose military talent is as remarkable as that of the bevy
of marshals who were the proteges of Napoleon I., are thus enumerated :
I. Kuluk Bughurdshi, of the tribe Arulad ; he was the captain over the
rest. At first he was a serving man, then rose to be Gesiktu, i.e., captain
of the advanced guard of the archers ; then Emir Gesik, i.e., commander
of that body; then Emir Tuman, i.e., chief of 10,000 men ; and lastly,
Kiwang, or Grand Prince. He styled himself the unerring, and said of
himself; "When the cry of the raven is false and misleading, then am I
not taken in and led astray ; when the grave-bird croaks unmeaningly,
my head and brain remains clear; when the dust rises from the earth, or
the mist comes down from heaven, I don't lose my way. Thence men
call me the unerring."* 2. Bughurul, of the tribe of Uguskin. 3.
Shurkan Shireh, the Torghon Shaara of Schmidt, of the tribe Suldus; he
saved his master's life when the latter escaped from the Taidshuts {vide
ante), 4. Mukuli Behadur, the conqueror of Northern China. He is
called Go Mukuli by Schmidt, and was of the Jelair tribe. 5. Chepe, the
pursuer of Muhanmied, the Dschebe or Sebe of Schmidt. He belonged
to the Yissud tribe. 6. Subutai Behadur, the companion of Chepe. He is
the Tso Mergcn of Schmidt, who says he belonged to the Jurjid tribe.
7. Chelme Oho, i.e., the bold robber, the companion of Jingis's first
expedition, whose two sons were the leaders of the right and left
wings of the body guard. He belonged to the Uriangkuts. 8. Shiki
Kuttu, of the Tartar tribe. And lastly, Kara Kiragho, of the Uirat
tribe.t

Note 2. — The army of the Mongols consisted of very heterogeneous
elements ; each conquered nation supplied its contingent, and the Mongol
element proper in the army was probably largely exceeded in numbers by
the Ttu-kish one. The former, however, was treated as the mainstay of
the nation, and in the distribution of his forces among his relatives, by

'* Von Hammfcr'l Ilkhtns, i. 30.
t Schmidt*! Stanang SeUen, 381. Vofa Hammer'i tlkhlinB, i. 3b

JINGIS KHAN. 115

Jingisy this alone is named. The great bulk of it, with the Mongol nation
and the Mongol country, was left to Tului, the hearth-child. The fol-
lowing tabular statement contains an enumeration and account of the
distribution of the Mongol army :— *

1. The Imperial life guards, called the great Ordu ; this was

1,000 men strong, and was commanded by Utsheghan, a
Tangut by nation, and an adopted son of Jingis. The
various couriers, runners, messengers &c., belonged to

this body 1,000

2. The Centre, under Tului 101,000

3. The Right Wing, imder Bughurdshi Noyan 47,ooo

4. The Left Wing, under Mukuli Guyaneg.. 52,000

5. The Contingent of Juji Khan 4,000

6. The Contingent of Jagatai Khan 4,000

7. The Contingent of Ogotai Khan 4iOoo

8. The Contingent of Gulgan 4,000

9. The Contingent of Utsuken Noyan SyOOO

10. The Contingent of the sons of Juji Kassar 1,000

11. The Contingent of Ildshidai Noyan 3>ooo

12. The Contingent of the Empress Ulun Egeh 3,000

13. Supernumeraries 1,000

230,000

Note 3. — I have followed Ssanang Setzen in calling the first wife of
Jingis, Burte Judshin. I am reminded by Colonel Yule that other
authorities call her Burte Fudshin, and I may add that D'Ohsson
expressly says that Fudshin (or Fou gin, as he writes it) was the title
given by the Chinese Emperors to those of their wives who ranked imme-
diately after the Empress.t

* Erdmann, 446. t D'Ohuon, i. 417.

CHAPTER IV.

OGOTAI AND HIS DESCENDANTS.

OGOTAI KHAN.

AFTER the burial of Jingis Khan his sons and descendants
dispersed to their several governments, and during a space of
two years there was no supreme ruler among them. Tului, the
youngest, who, according to Mongol custom retained his father's portion
and ruled specially over the Mongols proper and the Keraits, acted as
regent. But in the spring of 1229 a Kuriltai, or general assembly of the
chiefS) was sunmioned by Tului to elect a chief Khan. After three days
spent in festivity they proceeded to the business of the meeting. Tului
was pointed out for the post by the suffrages of many, while Jagatai, as
the oldest surviving son of Jingis, was the heir according to Mongol rules
of inheritance ; but the will of Jingis was paramount, and Ogotai had been
named for the post by his father. After forty days' hesitation his reluctance
was overcome. We are told he was conducted to the throne by his
brother Jagatai and his uncle Utjuken, and that while Tului presented
him with the cup, the rest, both inside and outside the tent, with heads
uncovered, prostrated themselves nine times, according to the ancient
Chinese ceremonial, and saluted him with the title of Kaan. (Kaan is a
contraction for Khakan, a title which Ogotai and his successors bore to
distinguish them from the rulers of the three other branches of the house of
Jingis.*) Ogotai then came out of his tent and made three solemn genu-
flexions to the sun, in which he was followed by his people ; and the day
concluded with festivities. The oath of allegiance sworn by the other
princes is thus given by the chroniclers, " We swear that so long as there
remains of thy posterity a morsel of flesh which thrown upon the grass
wiU prevent the cows from eating, or which put in the fat will prevent the
dogs from taking it, we will not place on the throne a prince of any other
branch."t

Ogotai now distributed the treasures collected by his father among the
grandees ; he ordered that during three days rich meats should be offered

* D'Ohaton op. cit., ii. iz. t D'Ohtion, ii. la. Von Hammer*! Golden Horde, 98.

OGOTAl KHAN. II7

to his manes, and having chosen forty of the fairest daughters of his
subjects, he, in the words of Raschid, sent them to wait upon Jingis Khan
in the other world ; with them perished many richly caparisoned horses.
He then proceeded to organise his vast empire, a task in which he was
greatly assisted by Yeliu Chutsai, the faithful friend of Jingis Khan,
whose influence in civilising the Mongols was so great that he deserves a
short notice. He was bom in 11 90 in the country of Yan, and belonged
to the royal stock of the Khitans, who founded the Liau dynasty. He
was an able astronomer and composed some tables named Mathapa, in
which he followed the Mussulman and not the Chinese system. He was
also a proficient in geography and arithmetic. When the Mongols cap-
tured Peking, Yeliu Chutsai was its governor, and in the great conqueror's
life I have described his honest answer when Jingis attacked his old
sovereign, and how the Mongol chief took him into his service as an
astrologer. He predicted the overthrow of the empire of Khuarezm and
of the Kins, and was consulted by Jingis on many occasions : one
instance will suffice to show the kind of stories told of him. During
Jingis's Indian campaign, he one day saw an animal like a deer, with a •
horse's tail, a green body, and a single horn. This animal could speak,
and cried out to the Emperor's guards that their master ought to retire in
all haste. Jingis consulted Chutsai, who told him the animal was called
Kiotuan ; that it understood all languages ; that it abhorred carnage ;
and its coming was to warn him that if he was the son of heaven, the
peoples were also his children, and heaven was loth that he should
slaughter them. During a great epidemic he is said to have saved
10,000 lives by his knowledge of drugs, the chief one being the rhubarb so
much used in Chinese medicine ; and it was by his influence that a more
temperate policy began to be inaugurated among the Mongols, and, in
Eastern phrase, the " wind of carnage began to abate." He now urged
upon Ogotai that, although his empire had been conquered on horseback,
it could not be governed so. He arranged the etiquette of the court and
the order of precedence of the several princes ; he restrained the absolute
and arbitrary power of the Mongol governors, and established forms of
procedure which they were bound to follow. The annual taxes were
fixed; the Chinese were to pay silver, silk, and grain, &c. De Mailla says
the tax was fixed at a tithe of wine, being a luxury, and a thirtieth of other
articles, and custom-houses were appointed for collecting it ; Ogotai also
forbade the receipt of presents by superior officials from inferiors, that
constant source of corruption in the East.* The Chinese paid so much for
each house, while the nomades paid yearly a hundredth part of their horses
and cattle. In their case the levy was not made per house, but so much
for each adult male. Public granaries were established, and also a system
of posting. At the beginning of 1232 the conquests from the Kin («>.,

* De Maillt, ix. 135.

Il8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

China north of the Yellow River), were divided into ten departments,
each with its own administration ; and this after the plan of the Chinese
philosopher Kungts^.

The Mongols now proceeded to complete the rdU of conquest marked
out by Jingis Khan. The Kin Emperor had, in 1229, sent offerings for
the manes of that conqueror, but they were refused. Notwithstanding
the death of Jingis, a desultory' war had been continued with the Kins.
In 1228 the Chinese won their first victory for eighteen years over the
Mongols.

The latter had entered the district of Ta-tchang-yuen with 8,000 men.
A Chinese commander named Wanien-tchin-ho-chang opposed them,
with an advance guard of 400 cuirassiers composed of deserters and
vagabond Chinese, Uighurs, Maneis (/>., the mountaineers of Suchuan),
Thibetans, Thu-ku-hoan, &c. Desperate characters, they fought des-
perately, and although so greatly outnumbered, they completely
defeated the enemy.* In 1230 the Kin troops again defeated the Mongols
in two small engagements, and a Mongol envoy who had been imprisoned
was sent back with an insulting message. Ogotai and his brother Tului
now determined to press the war against the Kins in person. Having taken
several strongholds in Shansi they crossed the Yellow River into Shen-si,
where they captured sixty places in which the Kins had garrisons, and
conquered the country between Tong tcheu and Hoa tche. They
then proceeded to attack Fong-tsiang-fu, which offered a brave resistance.
The Kin Emperor sent two officers to relieve it, and ordered them to take
a portion of the garrison of the celebrated fortress of Tung kuan with
them. With this they attacked the Mongols, the result was not decisive,
but the Kin generals retired. The garrison held out bravely and repulsed
an assault, and the Mongol general Antchar at length converted the siege
into a blockade. He then proceeded to capture Ping leang. Si ho tcheu,
King yang. Pin yuen, &c., towns of Shen-si, and eventually compelled Fong
tsiang to surrender.t Ogotai, who had remained in Pehchehli, now retired
northwards to pass the summer heats at the Lake Ilun Ussun, fifty leagues
north of the Great Wall, where he held a Kuriltai, to decide upon the plan
of campaign to be adopted against the Kin.J

Shensi was now in the power of the Mongols, and the dominion of
the Kin emperors was restricted to the province of Honan — a province
bounded and protected en the north by the Yellow River and on the west
by high mountains and the fortress of Tung kuan. On the south it
was bounded by the Sung empire, and on this side it was accessible.
Jingis, in the plan that he had sketched before his death, had advised his
sons to make a wide detour, turning the northern and western barriers of
Honan, and to invade that province from the south.

* De Mailla, iz. 130. D'Ohison, ii. 17. t De Mailla, 140, 141. D*ObMon, iL 29, 30.
I D'OhMon,ii.20.

OGOTAI KHAN. II9

This plan necessitated marching through a part of the territory subject
to the Sung dynasty, and the Mongols sent an envoy to ask permission,
but his mission was suspected and he was put to death. This treacherous
act greatly surprised the Mongols, whose alliance had been courted
by the Sung authorities, and it was made the pretext eventually for the
destruction of that empire.*

Tului set out from Pao-ki, a town of Shensi, nine leagues S.W. of Fong
siang, with 30,000 horsemen, to turn the western defences of Ho-nan. He
had learnt from his father the policy of ruthless destruction, and he now
put it in force mercilessly. De Mailla describes how he slaughtered
people by the hundred thousand.t He advanced across the Hua
mountains, which form the watershed between the rivers Han and Hoei,
and were the boundary between the Kin and the Sung empires. He then
entered upon the lands of the latter empire, captured many cities both in
southern Shensi and northern Su-chuan. In January, 1239, he appeared
on the river Han, and after a surprising march through mountain defiles
and dangers in the province of Su-chuan, his troops at length passed
the gorge of U sin koan, and appeared in Southern Honan.t Meanwhile
Ogotai advanced against the Kin empire from the north. He laid siege
to Ho chung (Pou chau fii), a town situated in the extreme south of
Shansi, and close to the Yellow River. Dc Mailia says the Mongols
employed towers 200 feet high, made of pine wood, whence they could see
the doings of the garrison, and on which they planted their artillery,
while their sappers broke into the walls. The town was captured in
a fortnight, and soon after Ogotai crossed the Yellow River at Baipo, near
Ho tsing hien.§ Tului continued his march. He crossed the river Han.
The Kin generals, with an army which is put by some as high as 1 30,000,
marched against him. A fierce fight ensued at the mountain Yu, near
Teng chau, nine leagues S.W. of Nan yang fu, in the province of Honan.
Not only had the Kin army the advantage of numbers and position, but
the Mongols would seem to have been much harassed and reduced by
their long march. The result was not favourable to them, and they
retired. They would probably have been annihilated but for the. over-
confidence of the Kin generals, who thought they had them in a trap, the
Yellow River not being frozen over. Their spies meanwhile reported that
the Mongols had retired behind a wood of junipers, that they ate and
rested during the day, but were on horseback and vigilant during the night.
They avoided a general engagement, but managed to capture a portion of
the enemy's baggage. Meanwhile the struggle at the Yu mountain seems
to have been exaggerated at the court of the Kin Emperor into a
substantial victory. iTie Emperor received congratulations from the
various mandarins, and gave a grand feast. II

* D*OhstOB, ii. SI. t Op. dt., ix. 143. : De Mailla, iz. 143-4.

S D'Ohtaon, ii. 26. De Mailla, ix. 149. D'Ohsson, ii. 25.

120 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

The various armies of the Mongols were now convergfing upon the
doomed capital of the Kin. The army of Tului separated into several
bodies, which overran a large portion of Honan, and rendezvoused at
Teng chau, whence it proceeded to rejoin Ogotai. The Kin generals now
gave orders that the sluices of the Yellow River should be cut and the
country round the capital be laid under water; but it was too late, Ogotai
had already crossed the river and cut in pieces the 10,000 workmen who
were sent to sever the dykes.* Tului having rejoined his brother at the
mountain Sang fong, near Yu-chau,t the Mongols surrounded the Kin
army, which, seeing itself lost, gave vent to cries like a mountain in
labour. They in despair made a desperate effort to cut their way out,
and many of them succeeded in escaping to Kiun chau, but their respite
was short ; the town was besieged, a deep ditch was dug about it so that
none might escape, and it soon after fell. The glory of its capture and
of the defeat of the Kin troops was chiefly due to Tului. Most of the
distinguished generals of the empire were either captured or killed ; they
showed the usual dignity and intrepidity which distinguished their
race.

The death of three of them had an heroic character. " Conduct me,"
said Khada, " to Subutai " (the great Mongol commander). " Thou, who
hast not a moment to live," said the latter ; " what dost thou want with
me ? " " It is heaven and not chance," was the reply, " that creates
heroes. Having seen thee, I die without regret ;" and he was killed.
Wanien Shengho-shang, on being brought before Tului himself, thus
addressed him : " I am the victor of Ta-chang-yuan, of Wei-chau, and of
Tao-hoi-goa ; if I had perished in the confusion of retreat they would
have called me traitor: they will now see how I dare die." No pressure
could humble his phrases : he had his feet hacked off and his mouth
gagged, but he died like a hero ; and the astonished Mongols drank to
him in kumiss, saying, " Illustrious warrior, if ever thou retumest to life
again, range thyself with us." The third general, Ira Buka, died equally
constant. When pressed to join the Mongols, he said, " I am a noble of
the Kin empire. I ought to be faithful to my sovereign."! Noblesse
oblif^e assuredly is a fine sentiment at such a crisis. He was also
executed. The Mongols now proceeded to capture various towns of
Honan, among which may be named those of Hiu chau and Sui chau.
The Kin Emperor summoned the various garrisons of the eastern
fortresses to come to his assistance. These now assembled under Tochan
Utien, the commander of Ven siang, on the Yellow River, to the number
of 1 10,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry, and marched along the banks of
the Hoang ho, escorting 200 barges with several hundred thousand
measures of grain from the eastern dep6ts ; but on the news that the
Mongols were advancing against them they were seized with panic, and

* De Mailltt tx. 151. t De Mallla, ix. 153. I D^Ohtson, H. 29.

OGOTAI KHAN. 121

retired, with a vast number of fugitives, towards the high mountains of
Thie-ling. The old men and children who lagged behind were
slaughtered by the Mongols, while the soldiery, driven to bay by the frost
and famine, were forced to surrender, and one of their generals, Wanien
Chunsi, was killed.

To add to the misfortunes of the Kin empire, the celebrated fortress of
Tung kuan, the buttress and key to Honan on the west, was treacherously
surrendered by its commander Li ping ;* but the Mongols were not
uniformly successful. They strove in vain to capture Ku6t6 fu, whose
feeble garrison was not to be intimidated into surrender either by threats
or cajolery ; while another town of Honan, namely, Lo yang, made even
a more heroic defence. Its garrison consisted of only 3,000 or 4,000 men.
After several days' bombardment the Mongols made a breach in the
eastern angle of the wall, when the governor, fancying the place was lost
and unwilling to survive, threw himself into the ditch and was drowned,
upon which the garrison elected a new commander, a most intrepid man,
named Kiang chin. The garrison was reduced to 2,500 men. He had a
number of standards made and hung over the walls, so as to deceive the
enemy and make-believe he was stronger than he really was. He
adopted a system of mutual supports inside the walls, and marched himself
at the head of several hundred picked men to repulse the various assaults.
The war cry of the garrison was Han ts^ kiun, i.e., ** Cowards, retire ! "
When iron failed them for arrow heads they made them out of copper
money ; they collected those shot by the Mongols, and made four heads
out of each one they collected. These they shot out of tubes. He also
invented new kinds of pao, 1.^., artillery, which could be served by a few
men, and fired huge stones for a hundred paces with great precision. The
Mongols were at length wearied out, and after an attack of three months,
during which they delivered more than 150 assaults, they raised the siege,
although their army was 30,000 strong. t

Ogotai assigned to his great general Subutai, the hero of so
many campaigns, the task of capturing Pian-king (now Kai-fong-fu),
then the Nanking or southern capital of the Kins. This city was
a vast square, ' twelve leagues in circumference. Ogotai, who wished
to pass the heats in the desert, sent an envoy to ask the Kin
Emperor to surrender. The favours he demanded showed the increasing
culture of the Mongols. He asked for the Academician Chaoping-wen, a
descendant of Confucius called Kung-yuan-tsu, and several other learned
men : he bade him send him as hostages girls skilled in embroidery and
men in hawkmg. These terms were accepted by the Kin Emperor ; but
mieanwhile Subutai ignored the negotiations: he constructed his catapults,
and thousands of captives— women, children, and old people— were
employed in filling the ditch with fascines and straw. The Emperor

• De MaUU, iz. J58. t Oaubil, 68-9.

122 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

would not for a long time allow his people to reply, but his patience at
length gave way. We are told the cannonade from the bamboo catapults
was kept up night and day, and the towers on the walls were reduced to
ruins. The besieged cased these in with hides and straw, upon which the
Mongols made use of inflammable material, thrown by balistas ; but the
wall itself was Arm as iron.

The stone bullets used by the garrison were made of stone from the
mountain Ken yo and the lakes Tai hou and Ling-pi, all in the Sung
territory; they were niade of the shape of a round lantern. Those of the
Mongols were more irregular and made of millstones, cut in half or in three
pieces. One of their catapults (Tsuan tchu) was built up of thirteen pieces
of bamboo.* Their siege works were on a gigantic scale. They built a
huge rampart or wall about the city, 150 li in circuit, with guard-houses
containing 100 soldiers at every forty paces. On this they planted towers,
&c., of wood, corresponding to those of the besieged. The besieged
used a kind of bombshells called Tchin tien lei, which they fired from
Mangonels or balistas, and also let them down with chains upon the
Mongol ss^pers. They also employed a kind of burning rockets called
Fei ho tsiang, which caused terrible wounds, t

After sixteen days' siege, in which a million of men are said to have
perished, Subutai, despairing of capturing the place, offered to retire if the
Kins would come to terms with the Khakan. He did retire as far as the
Yellow River. In the succeeding month an epidemic broke out in the Kin
capital: 900,000 coffins were counted, without enumerating those of the very
poor who had none4 While negotiations were going on for peace, a
Mongol chief was killed in a riot in the city, and the Kin Emperor
foolishly took into his service a Mongol general who had deserted. He
was received with great honour, and created Prince of Yen, but his
treachery was speedily rewarded, for the Mongols seized and slaughtered
all his family without regard to age or sex.§ Disgusted by these acts,
Ogotai ordered the negotiations for peace to be broken off and the siege
to be once more pressed. The Mongols invested the chief approaches to
the capital, while the armies that came to the rescue of the Kin Emperor
dispersed at the sight of the besiegers. Famine began to appear in the
city, and Ninkiassu, the Emperor, determined to abandon it. He left
behind him his wives and children, and escaped with some troops beyond
the Yellow River, where he tried to raise the provinces, but his troops
Were everywhere beaten or scattered, and the city, whose hopes were
kept up by the expectation that the Emperor would speedily inflict a
telling defeat on the besieging army, began to despair.

Its inhabitants suffered terribly from want ; houses were destroyed to
obtain firewood, while men ate the corpses of their wives and children.

* Do lUilla, 104. t De MailU, Op. dt., ix. x66^. I Ganbil, 7a.

^ De MaiUa, ix. 173.

OGOTAI KHAN. 123

During this terrible period, a rebel commander, Tsuili, seized upon the
chief authority: he killed several of the other generals, and then entered
into negotiations with Subutai. He sent him the Imperial jewels, and the
state robes of the Emperor and Empress: he also burnt the defensive
structures on the city walls, to show his submission. He then ordered
that everybody should surrender his jewels and valuables, and a terrible
scene of pillage and slaughter ensued, during which, according to De
Mailla, in less than seven or eight days more than a miUion coffins were
seen to leave the city by its different gates. Tsuili ordered the Empress
to write to her husband that all was lost and that he must submit, and sent
the message by the Emperor's nurse. He then placed the two empresses
and all the princes and princesses of the Kin Imperial family, to the
number of 500, in thirty-two carriages, and sent them to Subutai, who was
encamped at Tsing-cheng. The princes were killed, while the princesses
were sent on to Karakorum: he also sent to the Mongols a descendant of
Confucius, and many jurists, priests, doctors, artists, embroiderers,
comedians, &c. He then opened the gates, and the Mongols marched in.
Subutai demanded from the Khakan that, as the town had not sur-
rendered when simunoned, but had cost the Mongols much blood, after
the practice of Jingis it should be given up to pillage ; but the better
counsels of YeUu Chutsai prevailed, and Ogotai ordered it to be spared,
and only those members of the royal family who bore the soubriquet
Wanien to be killed. Besides the garrison, the number of people
saved by the entreaties of Yeliu Chutsai on this occasion (in which he
urged upon the Emperor the value to him of the artisans, &c., &c., who
lived in Kai fong fu) was 1,400,000 families.* '

Soon after this, Temutai, a Mongol general, who was laying siege to
the town of Po-chau, was treacherously attacked by Kuannu, a general of
the Kin Emperor's, when he was having negotiations with the latter.
The Mongols were beaten, and suffered severely; and Kuannu was
appointed generaUssimo. He seized the reigns of government, and left
the Emperor merely the shadow of authority ; the latter soon grew weary
of the surveillance, and had him assassinated.

Wushan, another of the Kin generals, had assembled an army of
70,000 men in the south of Honan, where the Emperor Ninkiassu set
out to join him ; but meanwhile Wushan was attacked by the army of
the Chinese Emperor of the Sung dynasty, who had entered into an
alliance with Ogotai against the Kins.

This attack was made with great vigour; Wushan, or Usien as De
Mailla calls him, was forced to take refuge in the mounuins of Ma teng,
where he took possession of nine forts. The Chinese troops pressed their
advantage, and with such vigour that seven of these forts were captured
in six days. They pursued Usien among the defiles and recesses of the

9 Pe MailU, ix. z88.

124 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

mountains, and having again fought with him, compelled him to become
a fugitive, and then retired towards Siang yang.*

Meanwhile the Mongols continued their successes ; they captured Lo
yang, which made a brave resistance, but one of its gates was, treacherously
surrendered by the officer in charge. The commander of the town,
Kiang chan, who had so distinguished himself the year before, refused
to surrender, and, covered with wounds, was taken before Tachar,
the Mongol commander, who would have gladly enlisted such a
hero in the Mongol ranks, but he refused, and turned towards
the south to salute the Kin Emperor; he was put to death. Mean*
while Ninkiassu, the Emperor, had been pressed by one of his generals
in the south to march towards him, and to take shelter at Tsai-chau, a
town of Southern Honan. He now set out escorted by only 300 men,
of whom only fifty were mounted. He was well received by the people,
and named Wanian Huchahu, a prince of the Royal family, and of great
repute for his wisdom, commander-in-chief, and first minister. The Emperor
was a weak person, and as the Mongols did not pursue him very closely
he began to grow lethargic in his new refuge, collected a harem of young
girls, and made himself a pleasure garden, &c.t His faithful general
pressed upon him the indecency of the proceeding, and he altered his
behaviour. Huchahu collected a force of 10,000 cavalry. The presence
of the court and of this force made Tsai-chau the resort of a vast crowd
of fugitives, and it began to be feared that there would be a famine. The
Emperor thereupon wrote to the Sung Emperor Li tsong, to ask him to
send some provisions. He drew his attention to the favours he had
during his reign done the Sung, and bade them beware of the Mongols,
that after destroying forty kingdoms, and the empire of Hia, they were
now uprooting that of the Kins, and that their turn would follow, and he
urged upon them the Chinese proverb that when the lips are gone the
teeth are no longer protected from the cold ; but the message was all in
vain.} Meanwhile the Mongols were close at hand. They invested
Tsai-chau under the command of Tachar, a son of the Noyan Burgul, a
favourite general of Jingis. With them were 20,000 Chinese sent by the
Sung Emperor, who also sent 300,000 sacks of rice to provision the
besieging army. In two months the famine inside was so excessive that
they began to eat human flesh ; everybody, including women, were armed
and did duty, and the defence was continued with great energy.

Near the town there was a deep lake, raised fifty or sixty feet above the
river Jou ; in its midst was a tower called Chaitan, in which the Kins had
placed a garrison. It was deemed impregnable, not only because of the
depth of the lake, but because it was guarded by a dragon, while its
lower storey was protected by cross-bows. Mong-kong, the conmiander
of the Sung contingent, caused the lake to be drained into the river Jou>

* De Mailla, ix. 194. t De MtilU, ix. 297. : De Mailla, ix. 199.

OGOTAI KHAN. 125

then making a road with fascines across its bottom, and amidst a storm of
arrows, the fort was attacked and stormed : 537 prisoners were captured.
This outwork having fallen, the main siege was pressed. The town was
surrounded by two lines of fortifications ; after a vigorous assault the
confederated Mongols and Chinese captured the exterior one. Ninkiassu
saw that his time was drawing near. He deplored, we are told, the fate
which made him, who had neither great vices nor faults, have to suffer
the fate awarded to the most wicked princes. Death had only one terror
for him, namely, that as he was the last of a dynasty which had flourished
for 100 years, he might be confounded with those princes whose ill deeds
had put an end to their empires. Most of them had mourned in captivity
or suffered from the public scorn ; heaven knew he had a resolution which
would prevent him reaching that depth. The besieged, according to
D'*Ohsson, were reduced to the pass of boiling all their leather articles,
saddles, bottles, old drums, &c. ; they made soup with human bones
mixed with those of animals and with greens ; they ate the old, the
infirm, the wounded, and the prisoners. The Mongols made an ineffectual
assault, which however caused the besieged a heavy loss. The night
afier, the Emperor abdicated in favour of Wanien Chinglin, brother of
Wanien Baksan, a prince of the blood, who descended directly from
Horipu. He gave him the Imperial seal, telling him that his own stout-
ness prevented him riding on horseback and escaping, but that he was
more nimble and might be fated to restore the fortunes of the house.
But it was too late, the Mongols and Chinese were already on the walls
while the ceremony of inauguration was going on. Ninkiassu now entered
a house .which was surrounded by bundles of straw, and having given
orders that it should be fired, hanged himself. The intrepid Huchahu
said he would not die by a plebeian hand, and now that it was useless to
continue the struggle he would drown himself in the ditch. His example
was followed by four other general officers and 500 soldiers; another
example of that heroic devotion which was so characteristic of the sup-
porters of the Kin dynasty. The attendants of Ninkiassu had barely
time to pour the libations on the corpse when the Mongols rushed into
the city ; the body was burnt, and the bones, with such of the Imperial
ornaments as were to be found, were divided between the conquerors.
Chinglin was soon after assassinated by his soldiers. Thus ended the
dynasty of the Kins, which had lasted for 118 years, and during the reign
of nine princes.

The various towns in Honan, &c., all now surrendered to the Mongols,
except Kungchangfu in Shensi. The Sung Emperor celebrated the victory
with great rejoicings, and offered up some of the ashes and the spoils of
Ninkiassu to the manes of his own ancestors.* The fall of the Kin
dynasty took place in May, 1234. The Khakan and his brother

* D'Ohtion, op. cit., ii. 36.

126 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Tului had eighteen months before retired from China and gone to
Mongolia. There Ogotai fell ill, and we are told by Raschid that
his brother Tului approached the bed, and raising aloft the wooden
vessel in which the Shamans had placed their consecrated liquor, he
thus addressed his God, *^ Great God, eternal being, if thou punishest
according to man's guilt, thou knowest that I am more culpable
than he ; I have killed more people in war, I have harried more
women and children, I have made more tears to flow from fathers and
mothers ; if thou summonest one of thy servants because of his beauty
or merit, I still claim to be more worthy ; take me in the place of Ogotai
and make his disease pass into me." Ogotai recovered, and Tului soon
after died, Juveni says, chiefly from excessive drinking ; he had been
the favourite son of Jingis, and was only forty years old when he expired in
October, 1232. According to custom, his name was no longer pronounced
after his death. Tului in Mongol means "mirror," and the Turkish
synonym for the word, viz., guezu^, was eradicated from the language.
He was referred to as the Great Novan.*

While the Kin empire was being conquered, the Mongols were extending
their empire in the West. The retreat of Jingis E^n had left Persia
almost a desert. Of the three sons of the Khuarezm Shah Muhanmied,
Jelal-ud-din was a fugitive in India ; and Roku-ud-din had been killed by
the Mongols. The third, Ghiath-ud-din, who had taken refuge in Mazau*
deran, marched on the retreat of the Mongols upon Ispahan, and was
speedily master of Irac Adjem, Khorassan, and Mazenderan. Jelal-ud-
din having won considerable fame in India, and married the daughter of
the Sultan of Delhi, determined to cross the Indus and recover his
hereditary dominions. On his long march from the Indus many of his
men died from fatigue, &c., and he arrived in Kerman with only 4,000
men. Here he was well received by Borak, an illustrious man, a Kara
Kitayen by birth, who founded the dynasty of the Karakitayens of
Kerman. Having married a daughter of Borak and received his sub-
mission, Jelal passed into Fars, where an independent dynasty had long
reigned under the name of Salgarids. It was now represented by the
Atabeg Saad, whose friendship Jelal secured by marrying his daughter.
He then advanced into Irak, where his brother reigned, or rather made a
pretence of reigning. A weak and voluptuous prince, he was barely
acknowledged by his dependents, and was at the mercy of his mercenary
troops. He was, however, surrounded by a considerable army, and Jelal
seeing no chance of defeating it, had recourse to deception ; he feigned to
be only marching to be near his brother, and without any other ambitious
motive. Ghiath was deceived, upon which Jelal proceeded to corrupt his
troops, and succeeded so well that his brother fled. The authority of
Jelal-ud-din was speedily acknowledged. The generals presented them-

* D'Obsion, ii. 60. Gtubil, 75.

OGOTAI KHAN. 1 27

selves with sheets about their necks and asked his pardon, and various
independent princes who had sprung up during the Mongol troubles in
Khorassan, Mazenderan, and Irak, all came and did homage.*

Jelal's first exploit when he was firmly settled on the throne was an
attack on the Khaliph of Baghdad, the enemy of his father and grand-
father, whom he accused of having called in the Mongols. He invaded
Khuzistan, which with Irac Areb formed the appanage of the Khaliphs,
and laid siege to its chief town, Tusster. The Khaliph gave the com-
mand of his troops to Kushtimur, and sent a pigeon express to the Prince
of Arbil to come to his support. Jelal, although very inferior in strength,
won a victory; Kushtimur was killed, and his troops pursued to the
neighbourhood of Baghdad. Having taken the town of Dakuka, he
turned aside from his intentions against the Khaliph while he subdued
Azerbaidjan, then governed by the Atabeg Uzbeg, a drunken boor. Jelal
took its capital, Tebriz, and having made the province into an appanage,
he advanced into Georgia, whose Christian inhabitants have always been
the special objects of hatred to their Mussalman neighbours. Having
taken the town of Tovin, he defeated an army of 70,000 Georgians, of
whom 20,000 were disabled, and his army then spread over Georgia and
ravaged it The Georgians collected a second army, which consisted of
Alans, Lesghs, Kipchaks, and other Caucasians, as well as their own
people. This was also defeated.

The Sultan now, March, 1226, advanced upon Tiflis, which he capttu-ed,
and killed all the Georgians who would not accept this religion of the
Prophet He then returned to Ispahan, where he received the renewed
submission of Borak, the chief of Kerman, who had shown signs of
turbulence. In October, 1226, he made an incursion into Abkhazia, or
Southern Circassia; he only remained there ten days, when he returned
and laid siege to the town of Khelat, which was bravely defended. The
Sultan was called away from here to put down a horde of Turkomans
who had invaded Azerbaidjan. The next year, 1./., in 1227, he ravaged
the country of the Assarians, and defeated a body of Mongols who had
advanced as £ar as Oamegan. The following year the Mongols appeared
in greater force, and marched in five divisions, conunanded by their
generals Tadji, Baku, Assatogan, Taimaz, and Ta, to within a day^s
journey of Ispahan, the head-quarters of Jelal.t He was ever a
courageous, bold man, and seemed little affected by this advance. His
genends, who timidly came to consult with him in the palace, were enter-
tained with irrelevant matter for some time, to show how httle the Sultan
was affected; they eventually swore not to tium their backs on the enemy
or to prefer life to a glorious end, and the Cadhi and Reis, the two chief
ofiBcials of Ispahan, were ordered to hold a review of the armed citizens.)

Meanwhile a body of 2,000 Mongols was detached to Luristan to

* D*ObMOO. iii. 9. t D*ObMOO, ui. «9« I D'ObMOB, iu. 14.

128 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

collect provisions. These were surprised by some of the Sultan's troops,
and 400 were made prisoners. It is said that Jelal abandoned these to the
fury of the populace, who massacred them in the streets of Ispahan ; he set
them the example by cutting off some of their heads in the palace yard, their
bodies being given to the dogs.* The day of battle was fixed according
to the predictions of the court astrologer. No sooner had Jelal ranged
his army in battle array than his brother Ghiath deserted with a body of
troops. Notwithstanding this, Jelal engaged the enemy, and was at first
victorious, but as usual, the Mongols prepared an ambuscade, and ended
by dispersing the Khuarezmian forces, some of which fled to Fars, others
to Kerman, and others to Azerbaidjan. The loss of the Mongols was
so great, however, that they merely showed themselves at the gates of
Ispahan, and then retreated in all haste by Rayi and Nischapoor, and
recrossed the Oxus, after losing a great many of their men. Wolff makes
Chin Timur, who had been left as Mongol governor in Khorassan, to
control these operations, and says he retired on hearing the news of the
death of Jingis.t Jelal-ud-din had disappeared in the recent battle, and
arrangements were already being made for the election of another
ruler, but the Cadhi persuaded the people to wait till the feast of Bairam,
when, if the Sultan did not return, they should elect the Atabeg Togan
Taissi in his place. But on the day of the feast he appeared. His
return was the signal for great rejoicings. He promoted those who had
distinguished themselves, and made those who had disgraced themselves
promenade the town with women's veils over their heads. J Meanwhile his
brother Ghiath had gone to Khuzistan to ask assistance from the Khaliph
in recovering his dominions. He had been insulted by one Muhammcd,
a favourite of Jelal-ud-din, and in revenge had assassinated him. This
incensed Jelal, who ordered the funeral procession of the murdered man
to pass twice before the door of his murderer. This public affront was
the cause of the desertion of his brother by Ghiath on the day of the
recent battle.

Jelal having despatched a body of troops in pursuit of the Mongols was
enjoying his ease at Tabriz when he heard that his brother was marching
on Ispahan. He marched to meet him, upon which he fled, and took
refuge, first among the Assassins and then in Eerman, where he was at
length strangled by order of Borak.

Jelal now had to meet a great army of the confederated Caucasian
tribes, Georgians, Armenians, Alans, Serirs («>., Sirhghers or Kubechi),
Lesghs, Eipchaks, Soussans (? Souans), Abkhazes, and Djanites.§ He
first detached the Kipchaks by recounting to them how many of their
people's lives had been saved by fais intercession with his father.

The Kipchaks having retired, he next suggested to the Georgians a

* 0*Ohstoo, iii. 39. t Wolff, xaz. I D'Ohnon, op. dt, iii. ag^

i D^Ohtton, iii.33«

OGOTAI KHAN. 129

truce, during which champions on each side should fight in view of the
two armies. A gallant Georgian having entered the arena he was met by
the Sultan himself and transfixed with a stroke of his lance ; three of his
sons who came forward to revenge their father were successively killed.
A gigantic Georgian then came forward, who was also killed by the
descterous Sultan. After which, notwithstanding the truce, he gave orders
for a general attack, in which the Georgians were put to flight. Jelal
now once more laid siege to Khelat ; while before the town he received die
submission of Roku-ud-din Jehanshah, a relative of the Seljuk ruler of
Rum. He also received an embassy from the new Khaliph of Baghdad,
who demanded first that Jelal should not exercise any act of sovereignty
over the princes of Mosul, Erbil, Abouy^ and Jebal, who were his
feudatories; secondly, that he would restore the name of the Khaliph
in the public prayers of Persia, from which it had been defaced by his
fether Muhaiimied. Both requests were granted, and in return the
Khaliph sent him the robe of investiture of the government of Persia, with
presents for himself and his grandees.

Jdal ordered a splendid tomb to be built at Ispahan to hold his
CsUher's remains ; until this was finished he them placed in safe
custody in the strong fort of Erdehan, on the mountain Oemavend,
three days' journey from Rayi. When a few years after, the Mongols
captured this place they also captured the corpse of Muhanuned and sent
it to the Khakan, who ordered it to be biunt. We are told they did the
same to all the royal remains they came across, fancying they belonged
to Khuarezmian princes, and thus even the bones of Mahmud of Ghazni
were exhumed and burnt The same year, /^, in 1229, Jelal proposed an
alliance with Alai-ud>din Kei Kubad, the Seljuk Sultan of Rum, or Asia
Minor, suggesting to him that they two were the bulwarks, one in the
east, the other in the west, of the true faith against the infidels, but thit
envoys of Alai-ud-din were so badly and cavalierly treated by the
Khuareanians, chiefly, as Muhammed of Nessa tells us, because the vizier
deemed their presents of too little value, that they returned disgusted.

Khelat at length fell, after a siege of six months. Jelal would have
spared it the horrors of a sack, but his officers insisted that the troths
had sufiered so terribly in the siege that they would desert unless per* >
mitted to loot The town was consequently given up to pillage for three
days, and many of its inhabitants perished from torture inflicted to make- '
them disclose where their riches were hid.* * "

Khelat belonged to Ashraf, Prince of Damascus. That prince nofif ^
formed a confederacy to oppose Jelal. He was supported by Kei-Kubad^^
Sultan of Rum, and princes of Aleppo, Mosul, and Mesopotamia. Thqoir
joint army assembled at Sivas, and thence marched on Kh^t Jdbij
marched to.meet them with a very inferior force, and meanwhile-aent

* D'Ohsioo, aii. 4t.

130 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

round the Chaushes and Pehluvans, i,e., the heralds with red arrows, the
Khuarezmian signal for a rendezvous. He hoped to attack the enemy
before they had united their forces, but was seized with sickness, and before
he recovered they had amalgamated their troops. In the battle which
followed Jelal was badly beaten, and fled towards Manazguerd, and then
to Khelat, whence Jie removed all the rich things he could transport, and
burnt the rest, leaving his vizier to watch the enemy. He retreated through
Azcrbaidjan, and was deserted by his generals. At this critical point he
received offers of peace from the confederate princes, who were perhaps
afiaid to leave the wide empire of Persia at the mercy of the Mongols.
The peace was hurried on by the arrival of a large Mongol army under
the orders of the generals Churmagun and Baidshu, who had been sent
into Kherassan at the head of 30,00a men by the Grand Kuriltai held at
the accession of Ogotai.* This army speedily traversed Khorassan by
way of Esferan and Rayl Jelal thought the Mongols would winter in
Irak, so he leisurely retreated to Tebriz; he was, however, mistaken, for
they followed closely on his heels, and he was obliged to retire hastily to
Mukan, a district of Arran, where he expected to rendezvous his troops.
He fled so hastily that he left his harem behind him. While waiting for
his troops to concentrate, and engaged in hunting, he was nearly sur-
prised by the Mongols, and only just escaped into Azerbaidjan, whence he
sent to ask assistance of Ashraf, Prince of Damascus. The messenger
was intercepted by Shercf-ul Mulk, his own vizier, who had begun to
intrigue against his master. He had conducted the Sultan's treasures
and his harem into the safe fiastnesses of Arran, and had then raised the
standard of revolt ; his motive for revolt being the extravagance and pro-
fuseness of the Sultan, which left him bare when he had to pay his
soldiers. He wrote numerous letters to the neighbouring princes, in
which he described his master as the fallen tyrant. These fell into the
hands of Jelal, who deprived him of his viziership, and sent messengers
throughout the province with orders to no longer obey his authority. He
shortly after, by feigning to forgive him, got him into his power, but
dissatisfaction was very ¥nde spread in the newly conquered provinces of
Azerbaidjan and Arran.

A messenger of the Mongols who was sent to summon Bailecan was
brought to Jelal, who promised him his life if he would tell him the
strength of the 'Mongol forces; he told him that when Churmagun
reviewed the army near Bokhara the muster rolls showed it to be 20,000
strong. Jelal basely killed him for fear this news might discourage his
own troops. He then, doubting the sincerity of his late vizier Sheref-ul
Mulk, had him strangled ; this was an aristocratic privilege, the com-
ifabnalty were decapitated. He next put down a rebellion in Ganja, and
l^ttXrished the inhabitants for murdering some of his people. He then tried

• Wolff, zai.

OGOTAI KHAN. J31

inefiectually to get assistance from the Prince of Damascus or Syria and
his brother the Prince of Khelat. The historian Mohammed of Nessa
was his envoy and trusty councillor on these occasions. Meanwhile
the Mongols continued their advance. The hesitating Sultan was
led astray by the advice of Messaud, Prince of Amid, who persuaded
him to try and capture the kingdom of Rum, or Asia Minor, an
easy task, and that he would then be in a much better position to resist
the Mongols. While on this fool's errand and near Amid he was sur-
prised by the Mongols, and only escaped with a few followers. He was
hotly pursued and his followers killed; he at length reached the Kurdish
moimtains. The Kurds, as was their custom, proceeded to strip him and
his companions. Having made himself known to their chief, he took him
home and left him with his wife while he went to search for his horses.
While absent a Kurd came into the tent and asked who this Khuarezmian
was, and how it came that they did hot kill him; the hostess rephed that
he was the Sultan, upon which he said, " How do you know ? and if it be
true, he killed at Khelat one of my brothers, a better man than himself,^
upon which he killed him. Thus perished the last of the Khuarezm
Shahs.«

Jelal, according to his biographer Nessaui, was of a middle stature, had
a Turkish physiognomy, and a dark complexion, his mother having been
an Indian. He was brave to excess, calm, grave, and silent. He spoke
both Turk! and Persian.

lyOhsson has made some judicious remarks about his character ; he
says he was a true Turkoman, had all the good qualities of a soldier rather
than of a general or a ruler, without prudence or foresight, hving by
pillage, profiting by the respite allowed him by the Mongols to attack his
neighbours, given to luxury, drinking, and music ; always gomg to bed
dnmk, even when the Mongols were after him. His troops, without pay,
subsisted on plimder. After his death many impostors appeared, who
claimed to be Jelal-ud-din.t

After the Sultan's death the scattered Khuarezmian troops were set
upon by the peasants and the nomades (Bedouins, Kurds, &c.), and de-
stroyed. The Mongols proceeded to ravage the country in their usual
manner. Two months after the disappearance of Jelal, says D'Ohsson,
they had pillaged the districts of Diarbekr, Mesopotamia, Erbil, and
Khelat, without encoimtering any resistance, the people seemed stupefied.
The historian Ibn-al-athir gives some examples of the decrepitude to
which they were reduced: a Mongol entered a populous village, and pro-
ceeded to kill the inhabitants one after another without any one raising a
hand. Another wishing to kill a man, and having no weapon by him,
told him to lie down while he went for a sword, with this he returned
and killed the man, who in the meantime had not moved. An ofificer

• D'OhNoo, iii. 62. t D'Ohnon, iU. QSi 64.

134 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

and Behai ud din Muhammed, of Juveni, father of the author of the
History of Jingis Khan, to be Sahib Divan, or Finance Minister;
each of the representatives of the three other branches of the Imperial
family had an agent in the treasury to watch his master's interest.
Chin Timur died in 1235,* and was succeeded by an old man named
Nussal, who directly after gave way to Kurguz, a proteg6 of Chin Timur.
Like him and so many other able servants of the Mongols, Kurguz was
a Uighur Turk who had risen successively from being tutor and writing
master to the children of Juji to be secretary of Chin Timur, when the
latter was made governor of Khuarezm. We are told that he organised
the administration of Khorassan and repressed the exactions of a crowd
of small tyrants.t This made him many enemies, the chief of whom
were Sheref-ud-din and Kelilat, the vizier and general of Chin Timur;
they intrigued at court to get him removed. At length Ogotai despatched
one Argun to make inquiries on the spot, Kurguz went to meet him, and
came to high words, in which blood was shed. In the night he despatched
a messenger to Ogotai with his coat marked with blood. This dramatic
stroke had the desired effect, and the different parties were sunmioned to
the presence of Ogotai to give account of themselves. The malcontents
had supported Ungu Timur, the son of Chin Timur, as a candidate for
the governorship of Khorassan. One day the Khakan was entertained
by Ungu Timur, but directly after he left the tent it blew down ; Ogotai
had the tent destroyed. A few days after he supped with Kurguz, who
furnished his tent sumptuously and provided the Khakan inter alia with
a coronet adorned with the stones called yarcan (? Jade from Yarkand).

After a few months' deliberation Ogotai decided in favour of Kurguz,
and condenmed Ungu Timur and his followers to be punished as calum-
niators, but he added, " As you belong to Batu I will remit the matter to
him, and he will punish you." Ungu Timur, by the advice of Chinkai, a
trusty councillor of the Khakan, replied, *' The Khakan is the overlord of
Batu ; is a dog hke myself to be the cause of two sovereigns deliberating ?
The Khakan shall decide." "You speak well," said Ogotai, " for Batu
would not have mercy on his own son if he were to do what you have donc^'J
Kurguz was made governor of all the country south of the Oxus, including
the conquests of Churmagun ; he fixed his court at Thus, where he sum-
moned the grandees of Khorassan and Irak and the Mongol general, and
held a fete, at which the new Imperial ordinances were promulgated.
The Mongol governors appointed by Churmagun had been most oppres-
sive, and had appropriated much of the revenue, many of them were now
displaced ; he protected the Persians and civilians against the Mongol
soldiery, and was generally feared and respected ; he rebuilt the city of
Thus, of which only fifty houses remained. Herat, too, by orders of
Ogotai began to rise from its ruins. It had been almost deserted for

* D'Obsioo, iii. 208. t D'Obnoo, iii. xzo. I D'Ohuon, iii. 2x4.

OGOTAI KHAN. 1 35

fifteen years, but now an Emir named Yzz ud din, who had been trans-
ported to Bbhbalig in Uighuria by Tului, received orders to rcium to
Herat with 100 families. They found the canals choked, and had to
go to Afghanistan for ploughs and long tails {t\e., sheep). In a short time
people assembled there once more, and a census made in 1240 showed
there were then 6,900 inhabitants.*

Such was the condition of affairs in Persia during Ogotai's reign. We
will now turn to another comer of his empire, the mysterious peninsula
of Corea. In 12 18 Vangtung, the King of Corea, had acknowledged
himself as the vassal of Jingis Khan. In 1231 an ambassador of Ogotai's
was killed there, and the murderers were not punished. Salitai, a Mongol
general, was sent against the rebels, captured forty of their towns, received
the submission of the King, and before retiring appointed seventy-two
Darugas, or prefects, in the different districts. These were treacherously
murdered during the following year. The Corean King with many of his
subjects grew frightened, and leaving his general Hong-fu-yuen in com-
mand of his troops, fled to the island of Tsiang-hua, off the west coast of
Corea. Salitai, who re-entered Corea with an army, was killed by an
archer. It was about this time, namely, in 1235, that Ogotai held the
grand Kuriltai, when three armies for the conquest of Corea, the Sung
empire, and the coimtry west of the Volga were organised. A fourth body
of troops under the general Hukatu was sent to the borders of Cashmir.

Before attacking Corea, Ogotai wrote to its King a list of his com-
plaints : first, that he had failed to send any one to his court to do
homage ; secondly, that he had maltreated his envoy who had gone to
remind him of his fault ; thirdly, he accused him of the murder of his
ambassador by the Coreans ; fourthly, of having evaded sending a con-
tingent of troops to assist the Mongols, and of having failed to send an
enumeration of his people ; fifthly, of having killed his prefects. Ogotai
summoned him to his court to give account of these crimes. He
refused: but Hong-fii-yuen feeling himself too weak to resist the Mongols,
sent in his submission, and was appointed governor of Tungking. Soon
after this a Mongol army overran Corea, defeated the King in several
engagements, and forced him once more to become tributary, and to send
a hostage to Ogotai. This was in 1241.

When the empire of the Kins was destroyed, it had been agreed
between the confederated Sung and Mongol Emperors that Honan should
be abandoned to the former ; the Mongols now refused to evacuate their
conquest, except that portion of Honan situated to the south-east of the
towns of Chingchau and Tsaichau ( Yu-ning-fu).

The Sung Emperor was easily persuaded by some of his courtiers to
resent this, and to try and forcibly occupy the three ancient Imperial
residences of Changan (Si-ngan-fu) in Shensi, Loyang (Ho-nan-fii) in

* D'Obnon, iiL zz^.

136 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Honan, and Planking, i.e,, the Nanking, and sent an army of 1 5, 000 against
Pianking (Kai fong fu). Here the rebel Tsuili, wfiom we have ahready
named, kept up a nominal authority in the palace of the Kin Emperors ;
he speedily disgusted the Mongol prefects who assisted him, and was by
them assassinated His body was dragged at a horse's tail to the city
court amidst a crowd of pfeople. Li pe yuen, one of his officers, denounced
the crimes he had committed, and when some one interrupted him, a
general cry arose approving his remarks and affirming that he deserved
even a worse fate. His head was fastened to a stake, his body was
cut in pieces, while his heart was torn out and eaten by some of the
barbarous crowd.*

The Sung general now occupied Pianking and Lo-yang. These towns
had not recovered the effects of the former sieges, and when reinvested
by the Mongols the Sung garrisons soon felt the effects of want ; they
abandoned them, and the Mongols retook them. The Sung authorities
would now have made peace, but the invasion of their country had
already been decided upon at the great Kuriltai of 1235, at which three
armies were appointed for the task, one under Kutan, the second son of
Ogotai, and the general Tagai, was to invade Suchuan ; the second, under
the generals Temutai and Changju, marched upon Hukuang ; the third,
with the Prince Kutchu, the third son of Ogotai, Prince Khunbuca, and
the general Chagan, was to act in Kiangnan. Kutan marched through
Shensii and received on the way the submission of Kungchangfu, the only
town that still remained faithful to the Kins.t It then, after some checks,
forced the mountains that separate Shensi and Suchuan ; in a month it
captured many of the chief towns of Suchuan, including Mian chau
(Mian hien), whose commander, Kaokia, was killed after a brave struggle.
Tsing ye yuen, considered the bulwark and key of Suchuan, was then
attacked by the vanguard of Kutan. A Chinese commander boldly
advanced against the Mongol camp and defeated the Mongols. He then
raised the siege of Veng shi hien, and, after defeating a large body of
them, found refuge at Sian jin, south-west of Fong hien; but these
were only evanescent victories, the Mongols consolidated their troops,
forced the mountains between Shensi and Suchuan, and in a month made
themselves masters of two-thirds of that province, and massacred many of
its inhabitants. The governor of Ventchau poisoned all his family, burnt
their bodies, fired the chief valuables in his custody, including his
diploma as governor, and then stabbed himself: this species of heroism
is common in Chinese history.} Having ruined Western Suchuan,
Kutan retired into Shensi, and the Chinese reoccupied some of the
conquered towns. Meanwhile his brother Kutchu had, in March, 1236,
sldvanced from Tang chau in Honan into Hu kuang, and captured Siang
yang, the foremost city of the Sung. It was given up to the Mongols by

•DeMaUU,iz.ao9»azo. t D'Ohnoa, U. 79. I lyOlisaoo, U. 81.

OGOTAI KhAN. ^ 137

treachery. It then contained ^7 poo inhabitants, 300,000 taels of treasure,
twenty-four arsenals stocked with arms, and a large store of provisions,
which fell into the hands of the Mongols. They also captured Tsao yang
and Tc ngan fu.* About this time Kutchu died. He was the favourite
son of Ogotai, and had been named by him as his successor. During the
next two years the Mongols fought with varying success, and captured
several towns north of the river Kiang, but no further important conquest
was made in this direction during the reign of Ogotai, and the Sung
empire survived, as is well known, till the reign of the Great Khan
Khubilai.

Let us now turn once more to the western frontiers of the Mongol
empire.

When Jingis returned home again after his great expedition in the West
he left a contingent of troops in Persia ; another was apparently left in the
steppes beyond the Jaik; and so early as 1226 this contingent seems to
have attacked the city of Bulgar, for on a gravestone found among its
ruins this year is named as the year of oppression.! Two or three years
later, Von Hanmier says in 1228 and Wolff in 1230, Ogotai sent Suntai^
the ninth son of Juji, with 30,000 men into the West. They attacked the
Saksins and Comans, who took refuge in the country of Bulgar, and in
1232 they approached that city, which was apparently saved from capture
by the timely arrival of a Russian army commanded by the princes of
Smolensko and Kief.{ I have mentioned that at the Kuriltai held in
1235 it was determined to send an army westward. Ogotai was wishful
to take command of this army destined to cross the Volga, and to bring
the greater portion of Eastern Europe under the dominion of the Mongols,
but he was easily persuaded that he ought now to enjoy the fruits of so
much victory, and to leave the arduous task of conquest for his generals;
and he accordingly gave the command of the forces to Batu, the son of
his eldest brother Juji, who had shown skill in war. This choice was
r^ulated also probably by the fact that the special appanage of the
house of Juji lay in the deserts of Kipchak, adjoining the Volga, and that
such conquests as might be made would be an addition to it ; with Batu
went his brothers Orda, Sheiban, and Tangut. Baidar and Kaidu, sons
of Jagatai; Kuyuk and Kadan Ogul, sons of Ogotai; Mangu, Buri, and
Budjek, sons of Tului. Batu, as I have said, had the first command,
and his chief adviser was the great general Subutai Behadur, who had
won renown in so many campaigns. The general rendezvous was fixed
for the spring of 1237, on the borders of Great Bulgaria. One division of
the Mongol army, commanded by Subutai, penetrated into that country;
two of its chiefs came to do homage, but were afterwards rebellious. It
then returned and attacked the capital, Bulgar. Its inhabitants seem to

"» DeMailla,ix.2x6.
t Von Hammer, Golden Horde, 99. I Wolff, 124. Von Hammer, op. dt, 100.
S

138 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

have been exterminated, and the city, which in the early middle ages wa^
the greatest mart perhaps in Eastern Europe for leather, furs, salt fish,
&c., was so destroyed that it never again looked up.*

The following spring, Mangu and his brother Budjek, who conmianded
the left wing of the army, marched against the Kipchaks, or Comans,
along the northern shores of the Caspian. Patchiman, or Patchimak, one
of their bravest chiefs, escaped the general subjection of his countrymen,
and with a body of followers hid in the woods on the banks of the Volga,
and made raids upon the Mongols. Mangu prepared 200 boats or barges,
armed with 100 men each, and dividing them into two sections, com-
manded by himself and his brother, scoured the woods on each bank
of the river. Having come to a deserted encampment, they found an old
woman, who told them Patchiman had taken refuge on an island in the
river, where the gathered spoil of his forays were stored. There were no
boats about, but a strong wind blew and uncovered the causeway that led
to the island. The Mongols rushed in, captured Patchiman, killed or
drowned his followers, and captured their wives and a considerable
booty. De Mailla says that Patchiman kindly warned the Mongols that
they had better retire again hastily or the way would be once more imder
water, and that this in fact happened with some inconvenience to the
conquerors.t When brought before Mangu and ordered to kneel, he
replied with some dignity, " Do you think I am so weak as to ask for my
life ? Do you mistake me for a camel ? "J The Tarikh Djihankuschai
says that he asked that he might die by Mangu's own hand, but that the
latter handed him over to his brother Budjek. With him also perished
Catchar Ogola, a prince of the Ases or Ossetae. The Mongols wintered
in this country.§

Meanwhile another division of the army, under Batu, Orda, Berek^i
Eadan, Buri, and Kulkan, crossed the Volga and subdued the Bokshas
and Burtasses, t.e.^ the Mokshas and Ertsas, the two divisions of the
Mordvins who had lately been beaten by the Grand Prince George the
Second ; they also defeated the Circassians (? the Cheremisse^, and the
Vezofinnaks, /.^., the Vesses or Vod.|| Carpino mentions , that the
Mongols captured three towns before they attacked the Russians ; these
he calls Barthra (var Barchin), Jakint (var Sarguit), and Oma, a rich
town, inhabited by Christians, Khazars, Russians, Alans, and others, and
a place of considerable trade, situated near the mouth of the Don.
Seeing that they could not capture it otherwise, they diverted the
course of the river, and thus overwhelmed it and its contents.^
Wolff says that the Mongols were guided through the dense
forests of Pensa and Tambof by the Mordvins, and appeared unex-
pectedly on the frontiers of Riazan. The small principality of

* Raschid, quoted by D'Ohsson, ii. 623. Wolff, 136.

t De M«ill», ix. 235. I De Mailla, u. 224. § Raochid, &c., in D'OhMon, ii. 624.

B D'Ohsson, ii. 223 and 625. f D'Ohason, ii. 123. Note.

OGOTAI KHAN. 139

Riazan, dependent on the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, was then
divided between the brothers George and Roman Igorovitch and their
cousins Oleg Wladomirovitch and Jaroslaf Davidovitch, who held court
at Riazan, Isteslawetz, Pronsk, and Murom respectively; they had
carried on a severe civil strife, and when they now appealed to the Grand
Duke for help, he told them that they were strong enough to resist the
enemy if they were united. Batu is said, in the Russian chronicles, to
have sent a sorceress, or female augur, with two officers, to demand their
submission and a tenth of their goods, to which they replied, that when
they no longer lived, then the Mongols might take what they would.
They saw, however, that they could make no head against the invaders in
the open country so they retired to their cities. The MoEgols meanwhile
proceeded to devastate the land. Bielogorod, Isteslawetz, Pronsk, and other
towns were reduced to ashes. The beautiful city of Riazan was invested,
a breastwork of palisades and earth was raised round it, on which the
balistas were fixed, and after five days* bombardment it fell on the 21st
of December, 1237. The Prince, with his mother, wife, sons, the Boyars,
and the inhabitants, without regard to age or sex, were slaughtered with
the savage cruelty of Mongol revenge ; some were impaled, some shot at
with arrows for sport, others were flayed or had nails or splinters of wood
driven under their nails. Priests were roasted alive, and nuns and
maidens ravished in the churches before their relatives.* "No eye
remained open to weep for the dead," says the chronicler of Kostroma.t
This slaughter, which was doubtless meant to strike terror into the
rest of the Russian princes and to be an example to them, was followed
by an advance, upon Kolomna. This was also taken, and to revenge
Kulkan, who was severely wounded there, and shortly after died, a
frightful hecatomb was slaughtered amidst its ruins.t

The Prince Roman Igorovitch, who had gone with an army to relieve
Kolonma, was defeated and killed. The Mongols now invaded the
district of Suzdal and attacked Moscow, which ,was as yet an unim-
portant town, the inhabitants were either destroyed or made prisoners,
and Vladimir, the son of the Grand Duke George, who conmianded
there, was captured. The Grand Duke now became alarmed, he left
Vladimir and posted his army on the banks of the Sitti, which flows into
the Mologda, where he expected to be joined by his brothers. The Mongols
now invested Vladimir and captured and burnt Suzdal, whose inhabitants
suffered the conmion fate of those who opposed the Mongols, only that
the monks, nuns, and other religions were here spared. § The inhabitants
of Vladimir were, as usual with the Russians at this date, panic stricken.
Many of the chief men sought refuge in the churches, where they adopted
the tonsure, so that they might die in monastic orders. The Mongols ap-

* Von Hafflmcr, loa. t Wolff. 149. I Wolff, ecL. 143. D'ObMon, u. 6s5-

f VoD H«mmer, Qoldea Horde, Z03.

140 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

proached the Golden Gate, showed their captive Vladimir and threatened
to kill him if the city was not surrendered, and as this threat was treated
with scorn, they accordingly killed him. After several days of incessant
attack the Mongols at length broke into the city at each of its four
entrances, the so-called Golden, Brazen, the Lybedian, and Kolpaian
Gates. This was on Sunday, the 14th of February, during a season
of fasting.* The Imperial family had taken refuge in the choir of
the cathedral, while the nave was crowded with other fugitives; the
latter were slaughtered, and the former, to escape the same fate, set fire to
the building, and all perished together : the city was sacked and burnt.
The Mongol army was now divided into several bodies, which proceeded
to ravage the towns of Rostof, Yaroslaf, Gorodetz, Yurief, Pereslaf,
Dmitref, Tuer, Caschin, Volok, Cosniatin, and others. The Grand Duke
George was still on the river Sitti awaiting succour from his brother
Yaroslaf, Prince of Kief. He was there attacked by the Mongols and
killed, with most of his troops.

The Mongols now marched towards Novgorod, the northern emporiimi
of conwnerce, and a famous member of the Hanseatic league. They had
already reached the Waldai mountains, when, according to Wolffi a thaw
came on, converting the country into a huge morass. This deterred
them from advancing further, especially as the country behind them
was much wasted by their passage. On their return towards the south,
one of their detachments received a notable check before the town of
Koselsk, on the Shisdra, eight German miles S.S.W. from Kaluga ; 4,000
of their men and three young princes seem to have perished in the attack.
Their death was revenged by Batu, Kadan, and Buri, who brought
another army against it. Its capture was followed by a general mas-
sacre, one of those atrocious acts well styled a " carnival of death " by
Von Hammer. Like Bamian, the town was renamed Mobalig, j>., City
of Woe, by its captors.t

Having returned to the borders of the Don, the Mongols seem once more
to have divided into several sections. One of these marched against the
Circassians, and during the winter of 1238 killed their chief, Tukan. They
then laid siege to Mangass which they captured after an attack of six
weeks, and then sent a division to conquer Derbend and the surrounding
Country. Meanwhile Sheiban, Budjek, and Buri marched against the
Marimes,t hy which the Mari, or Cheremisses, who live north of the Volga,
are probably meant. Their neighbours, the red-haired Votiaks, were
probably also subdued, for the Chinese accounts mention that the Mongols
marched so far north that there was hardly any night, and subdued a
people with red hair and blue eyes.§

Another division of the invaders, under Bereke, attacked the Kipchaks,

♦ Wolff, 144. t Wolff, 146.

I RMchid« translated by D'Ohsson, Hist, des Mong,, ii. 126

, ^ Wolff, 14& D« Mailla, ix. ztz.

OGOTAI KHAN. 14.I

they were still governed by Kotiak, who had fought against them some
years before on the Kalka. He was now defeated. Raschid says Bereke
captured the chiefs of the Mekrutis. Kotiak, with 40,000 families, escaped
westwards into Moldavia, and in 1240 sought refuge in Hungary. Many
of the Eipchaks were sold as slaves by the conquerers. Some of these
were bought by the Egyptian Sultan Malek es Saleb, and about 1254
became the founders of the Boharit dynasty of Mameluk Sultans.*

Once more did the Mongols advance upon Russia. One division
marched towards the Volga, and captured and burnt Gorodetz on tbe
Kliasmai and Murom on the Oka. Another army marched towards the
Dnieper. Pereslavl, with the church of St. Michael, was laid in ashes, and
its bishop, Simon, and a large part of the population destroyed. Chemigof
shared the same £ate after a brave resistance, in which the defenders are
said to have performed the Homeric feat of hurling stones that it took
four men to raise. Glokhof also was destroyed.t It was now the turn of
Kief, the mother of cities, magnificently placed on the high banks of the
Dnieper, with its white walls, its beautiful gardens, and its thirty churches,
with their gilded cupolas, which gave it its pretty Tartar name, Altundash
Khan (i.e., the court of the Golden Heads) ; it was the metropolitan city
of the old Russian princes, the seat of the chief patriarch of all Russia. It
had latterly, namely, in 1204, suffered from the internal broils of the Russian
princes, and had been much plundered and burnt It was now to be
for a while erased altogether. Batu sent his cousin Mangu, who was
afterwards Grand Khan, to explore. He summoned the city to surrender;
his envoys were slaughtered, but its prince, like several other Russian
princes, lost heart and escaped towards Hungary. Meanwhile the terrible
host of the enemy came on, and the noise of their carts, the murmurs of
their herds of camels, oxen, and horses, and their own ferocious cries,
drowned the voices of the inhabitants inside ; the attack began and contin-
ued night and day, the walls were at length breached, the defenders retired
to the churches. The great metropolitan church was the chief place of
refuge. Here were collected fugitives of all classes, with their various
wealth, who gathered on its fiat roof, this gave way imder the weight,
and overwhelmed a vast hecatomb in its ruins. The Mongols rushed in
and slaughtered without mercy; the very bones were torn from the tombs
and trampled under the horses' hoofs.{ This was in December, 1240.
The magnificent city, with the ancient Byzantine treasures which it con-
tained, was destroyed, as were the bones of St. Vladimir, the tomb of Olga,
and the grand church of the Tithe, a chef d'oeuvre of the Greek archi-
tects ; this was so ruined that its remains were used for the building of a
fresh church, which still has in its walls some of its stones. The
monastery of Petchersky suffered the same fate, and its riches, including
the golden cross upon its cupola, were carried off. The only place spared,

• Wolfi, 247. t Voa H«min«r'i Golden Honl«. X07. Wolff, 149. | Wolff, 152.

142 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

apparently, was the tomb of Yaroslaf, " to teach men," says the quaint
Karamzin, " that the glory of legislators is the most solid and durable."
The city remained in ruins apparently during the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, and modem Kief is but a shadow, says the same historian, of its
former self.* It was one of the war maxims of Jingis that those who
offered aid or asylum to the opponents of the Mongols should themselves
be treated as enemies, and as Hungary had been very useful to the
Russian and Coman princes, the Mongols advanced against it. Their
way led through Volhynia and Gallicia. They apparently annihilated the
towns of Kolowgashniu or Koladashun, Gadalitsh, and Cadyshin, for they
are no longer to be found. Kremenetz, Galitch, and Chemovitz, which
were also cruelly visited, still exist in the district of Bukovina.t

They had now reached the magnificent barriers which protect Hungary
on the east and north, the Carpathians. While Batu forced their passes
and entered Hungary, he sent another division of his army, under Baidar
and Kaidu, the sons of Jagatai, to make a diversion in Poland. Poland
was then bounded on the north by Prussia, which was still pagan, and
Pomerania; on the east by Lithuania and the principality of Gallicia;
on the south by the Carpathians; and on the west by the March of Bran-
denburgh and by Silesia, which was dependent on Prussia without
forming an integral part of it. Boleslaf the Third had in 1139 divided
his dominions into four parts, and this division, like that in Russia, had
produced a terrible civil strife in the country. At the period of the
Mongol invasion there were nine independent princes in Poland.
Boleslaf, sumamed the Chaste, ruled over Cracow and Sandomir,
and had a barely titular authority over the rest, the chief of whom
were Henry the Second, the pious, who ruled in Lower Silesia and
Great Poland, and Conrad, uncle of Boleslaf, who had authority in
Mazovia and Cujavia, with his capital at Plotsk. These princes were
allied with the Hungarians or had given refuge to the fugitive Russian
princes, both high crimes in Mongol eyes. They seem first to have
made a reconnaissance. Leaving Vladimir in Volhynia in January, 1241,
they entered the district of Lublin, and ravaged the land as far as the
river Vistula, burning the towns of Lublin and Zawichost. Then crossing
that river on the ice they burnt and sacked Sandomir, pillaged the
Cistercian monastery of Koprienick, and advanced to within a short dis*
tance of Cracow. They returned loaded with booty and driving before them
the flower of the population, tied together in groups. On their retreat
they were attacked by Vladimir, the Palatine of Cracow, and considerably
checked. A number of the captives managed to escape during the
combat, and hid away in the woods. They now rejoined the main
army under Baidar, which was encamped near Sendomir.}

* Karamxin, iv. 14. t Wolff, 154.

I Wolff, 162, 163. Voo HumBtr*! Goldtn Horde, 109. D'OhstOB, ii< uv

OGOTAI KHAN. 143

Baidar detached another division, some authorities say one-tenth of
his forces, others a tuman (/>., 10,000 men), under his brother Kaidu,
which marched against and devastated Sieradia, Lancitia, and Cujavia,
the patrimony of Conrad and his sons. Meanwhile with the main army
he advanced towards Cracow. At a place called Chmielik or Chmielnik,
eleven German miles from that town, he encountered the Polish army
under the command of the Palatine of Sandomir and Cracow. This was
defeated, and its chief killed. Boleslaf, the Prince of Cracow, fled with
his wife, family, and treasures to his father-in-law, Bela of Hungary; but
hearing that the Mongols were already in Hungary, he took refuge in a
monastery in Moravia, and eventually sheltered himself until their with-
drawal in the fortress of Pievnikza, in Poland.* Many of the chief
fiamilies also fled to Hungary and Germany, while the common folk hid
themselves in the forests and marshes, so that the Mongols found the
city of Cracow deserted. They entered it on Palm Sunday, the 24th of
March, 1241, and having biunt it, continued their march towards Silesia.
Crossing the Oder near Ratibor, some on rafts and some swimming, they
appeared before Breslau. The inhabitants had already removed their
wealth, and had fired the town themselves to prevent its falling into the
hands of the Mongols, while they retired into the citadel with their goods.
This the enemy failed to take, after a siege of some days. The story
goes that it was saved by the prayers of the Prior of the Dominican
convent of Saint Adelbert at Czeslaf, through which a light from heaven
fell on the head of the Prior, and radiated such a glorious light that the
Mongols were frightened and passed on. This miracle is represented in
a painting in the little church of St. Martin, formerly the citadel chapel.
It is not mentioned by Matthias of Miechof, a canon of Cracow
and author of a work de Sarmatia in Grinaei orbis novus Basil, 1555,
&c.,t who has g^ven us a capital account of the proceedings at this
time. Baidar was now joined by the contingent which he had detached
under his brother Kaidu, and advanced plundering and ravaging the
coimtry towards Lignitz, where the army of Silesia, numbering some
20,000 men, was assembled under its Duke Henry the Second. Among
the other chiefs the principal were Mitislaf of Oppeln ; Boleslaf, son of
Diepold the Third, Margrave of Moravia ; and Poppo of Ostema, Grand
Master of the Teutonic Knights of Prussia with his order. It was con-
sidered an ill omen that as Henry marched out with his forces a stone
fell from the roof of the church of St. Mary and nearly hit him. He
divided his small army into four divisions : the first, the contingent of the
gold digging peasants, &c., from Goldberg and its neighbourhood in
Silesia, under Boleslaf Syepiolka ; the second, the contingent from Cracow
and Great Poland, under Sulislaf, the brother of the lately slain Palatine
Vladimir ; the third, the contingent from Oppeln and also the Teutonic

•Wolff, 265. t Wolff, 170.

146 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

in their flight. Having turned the northern flank of Hungary, the con-
tingent under Baidar and Kaidu crossed the mountains to join the
main army under Batu, which was laying waste that country. It crossed
by the so-called Hungarian Gates, which Wolff identifies with the
Hrasinka Pass, on the road from the valley of Olschawa, to the river
Hrosinka.*

While this division was turning the northern defences of Hungary, Batu
detached another southward to turn the opposite flank. This marched
through Moldavia, crossed the river Sireth into the land of the " Bishop
of Rumania " (Z.^., Wallachia).t Here it seems to have again divided.
One section, under Subutai Behadur, continued its march through Walla-
chia ; another, under Kuyuk, the son and successor of Ogotai, and Buri,
grandson of 'Jagatai, crossed by the Oitosch Pass, over the mountain
Magyaras into the south-eastern corner of that land of forests Tran-
$ylvania,J called Sieben Burgen by the Germans, from the seven Saxon
towns of Bistritz, Hermannstadt, Klausenberg, Kronstadt, Medevitch.
Muplenbach, and Schatzburgh.§ This district suffered the usual fate of
the lands through which the Mongols marched, and Wolff has collected
much evidence from deeds, &c., to show what places chiefly felt the
scourge. Among these may be mentioned the Castle of Zeuth Leleuth,
now Zent Leley, near the Ojtosa Pass, and the districts about Weissen-
burgh (Alba Julia), Dolok, Klausenburgh, and Szolnok, the districts of
Zeiplen and Zeh on the Alt, &c.|| He traversed the mountains and forests
of Transylvania, captured Roudan, or Rodna, a rich town near the Royal
pilver mines, and then advanced on Varadin, where a great body of
refugees was assembled. The Mongols took it ; killed all the inhabitants
without regard to age or sex. They committed dreadful sacrilege in the
churches, ravished there the women they captured, tore down the tombs,
destroyed the relics, desecrated the holy vessels, and tortured the priests.
The place was converted into a desert, which they were forced to
abandon on account of the dreadful effluvia from the corpses.

They then captured and destroyed a German bulwark on the Black
Koros, called Thomas' Bridge (Pontem Thomas). While the army com-
manded by Kuyuk was ravaging Transylvania, that of Subutai had made
the circuit of Wallachia as far as Orsova, and had crossed the mountains
by the Mahadia Pass, on the road which leads from the Danube into the
Banat of Temesvar, and advanced to the river Maros, where it captured
the town of Czanad. It was probably this division which stormed the
Island on the Maros where a large number of refugees from Agra,
Waydam, Geroth, and other towns had taken refuge. A general massacre
took place here. Those who fled to the woods thought it safe to return
on the third day to search for food among the ruins, but were set upon

• Wolff, «49. t Wolff, 155 . I Wolff, 156. i Wolff, op. cit, 323.

I Wolff. 314.

OGOTAI KHAN. I4.7

by some of the prowling invaders and killed. Having spent the winter
in this neighbourhood, the Mongols in the early spring laid siege to
Perg (/^., Pecksa*), where the inhabitants of sixty-nine villages had
taken refuge, and also to the Cistercian monastery of Egres, which was
fortified like a castle. Their army was largely increased by Hungarian,
Russian, and Comanian prisoners, whom they forced to do the harder
work for them. When the Hungarians were exhausted they put the
Russians to the work, and when these were done the Comans. The town
was at length captured and everybody destroyed except two young girls.
The devastation is sickening to describe ; many of the inhabitants had
taken refuge in the forests, these were induced to return to their homes
by the promise of the Mongols to spare their lives if they came back by a
certain day. They were allowed to sow and reap the year's harvest,
when they were all collected together and destroyed.

The various contingents which had marched through Moravia, Tran-
sylvania, and Wallachia, seem to have concentrated at Pesth.

Let us now follow the main army under Batu. This marched directly
upon Hungary. Hungary then stretched from the Adriatic to the Black
Sea, and from the Carpathians to the Balkan range. Bela the Fourth ruled
over it, while his brother Kalmany, or Koloman, was dependent
upon him, and had authority in Slavonia, Servia, Croatia, and Dalmatia.
Moldavia and Wallachia, then called Comania; and Besserabia (/.^., the
land of the Bessi or Petchenegs), were also subject to the Hungarian
crown.t Bela was a pious and weak prince, and had to control a strong-
handed and turbulent aristocracy. At this juncture there was a bitter
feeling against him, caused by his attempt to restrict their feudal rights
and otherwise. Some of them had secretly intrigued to supersede him
by offering the Hungarian crown to the Duke of Austria and the Emperor
Frederick II., and having been punished, their families swelled the number
of the discontented. Another cause of discontent was that the Comans
under Kutan, whom we have already mentioned as having sought refuge
in Hungary, were allowed by Bela to settle there on condition of
their becoming Christians. They had traversed the country, and
being robbers by profession, had laid their hands violently on many
things not their due. And although at a Diet convened in 1240 it was
decided that they should be scattered about the country to pasture the
more desolate portions of it, and their chief had consented to be baptised,
the people were very much irritated against them.

Thus in the face of this terrible scourge, the Hungarian nation was
disintegrated and dissatisfied. Bela sent the Palatine of the kingdom,
Dionysius Mederwary, Count of Zalnuk, with a body of troops to guard
the passes of the Carpathians, and then convened a Council at Gran,
which was attended by his brother Koloman and the great civil magnates

•WolflF,33x. Note. f Wolff, 277-

148 ttlSTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

of the kingdom, and by the greater prelates of the Church ; Matthias,
Archbishop of Gran and Ugolin of Calocza, with a vast following of the
lower clergy, which in Hungary seems to have been a very warlike
body.*

Meanwhile Batu was advancing. He had, even while in Russia, sent
a letter of warning to the King of Hungary. It was written, says the Monk
Julian, "in heathen characters " (probably Uighur), in the Tartar speech,
so that many in Hungary could read it, but none understood it. Julian
had met a heathen in Moldavia who read it. It was to this effect : — " I, am
Chaym (Sain), the messenger of the Heavenly King (/>., of the Khakan),
who has given me authority over the earth, to raise up those who submit
and to crush those who oppose me. I am surprised that you, King of
Hungary, should have taken no notice of the three envoys I have sent
you, and that you should have sent me neither envoy nor letter. I know
you are a rich and powerful King, who have many warriors and a great
kingdom j this makes it seem irksome that you should submit willingly to
me, yet it will prove your best course. I have heard that you have taken
the Comans, our dependents, under your protection. I charge you to
cease harbouring them, and to avoid in favouring them making an enemy
of me. It will be much easier for them, who have no houses and live in
tents, to escape, than for you who live in houses and are settled in towns.
How can you fly from me ?" t This is probably the letter mentioned by
Matthew Paris, which he says was delivered by an outlawed Englishman,
who had joined the Mongols.} Batu now advanced with 40,000 warriors
and forced the so-called Ruthenian Gates, />., the passes in the neigh-
bourhood of Bereckze, Munkacz, and Unghwar.§ They defeated and
almost annihilated the force which had been entrusted to the Palatine.
This was on the 12th of March, 1241. As usual, they pressed quickly on,
and in three days had advanced, plundering and burning, within half a day's
journey of Pesth.|| Bela, having sent his Queen and children into Austria,
ordered a general rendezvous of his troops at Pesth, a German town
on the Danube. By a show of bravado the Mongols attempted to draw
the garrison into a sortie. This irritated Ugolin, the Archbishop of
Calocza, who ventured out, and allowed himself to be drawn into a marsh,
where his followers were destroyed, he returned much chagrined, and
annoyed also with the King, who had not supported him.^^

We are told that the Hungarians were persuaded that Kutan and his
Comans had invited the Mongols into Hungary, and that they were per-
suaded that Comans and Mongols were the same race : a fresh proof of
how thoroughly Turkish the army of Batu was. The people at length
attacked the house where Kutan and his chief men were living ; killed
them, and threw their heads into the street. Their innocence was aftei^

• Wolfif, 27a. t Wolff, 274. I D'Ohsson, ii . 133. § Wolff, 289.

I Wolff, 290. f Wolff, 29X.

OGOTAI KHAN. I49

wards fully proved. The peasants in the country made a fierce attack
on the other Comans. The latter, driven to bay, retorted, and began a
general ravaging of the country. Bulzo, Basilius, or Blasius, Bishop of
Czanad, was, with a number of his people, going to the assistance of the
King when he was attacked by them at Reiskemet. Most of his
people were killed, and he barely escaped. They then devastated Steier-
mark, and having plundered the best towns in the land, Friburg, Stein-on-
the- Anger (the Hungarian Szombately), &c., they passed with a large booty
of gold, horses, and cattle through Hungary and Sirmium into Bulgaria.*
Another bishop suffered at the hands of the Mongols. This was Benedict
of Varadin. While he was on the march with a body of troops he heard
that a body of Mongols had pillaged the town of Erlau, and carried off
the episcopal treasure. He pursued them. Being inferior in numbers
they dressed a number of puppets and put them on horseback, as they
had done at Peruan, in the western campaign of Jingis. Feigning to be
beaten they retired in the direction of these dolls, who were mistaken for
supports by the Hungarians. The latter turned tail, and lost many of
their number, t

Meanwhile the tr^edy was thickening elsewhere. Bela had assembled
his forces on the wide heath of Mohi, bounded on the east by the vine-
dad hills of Tokay, on the west by the dark woods of Diosgyor, and on
the north by the great hills of Lomnitz. The plain was watered by the
Sayo, a tributary of the Theiss. J The Mongols had fixed their camp on
the other side of this river, in the corner formed by it, the Theiss, and the
Hemard, where their position was so hidden by brushwood, &c., that it
could not be reconnoitered from the river side. The Hungarian 3trmy
was very discontented, and many of the grandees apparently looked
forward with complacency to the King being defeated. Several of the
bishops acted as generals, the Archbishop Ugolin being especially pro-
minent. Batu is said to have pointed out to his generals the ill-chosen
position of the enem/s troops. Like a herd of cattle pent up in a narrow
stable, there was not room to escape.§ The Mongols made their attack
in the night ; sent a division to turn one flank of the Hungarian army
while another advanced against the bridge over the Sayo, and as their
passage across the river was somewhat opposed, they cleared the opposite
bank by a battery of seven catapults. They then advanced and overlapped
the Hungarian army in the form of a half moon. The Hungarians seem
to have been taken by surprise, and were panic-stricken. The Archbishop
Ugolin, Koloman, and a few brave men, including the Templars, fought
desperately, but the rest refused to leave the camp, and at length broke
away. As they fled, the Mongols, as usual, assisted the retreat by opening
their ranks ; they then pursued them, and overtaking them when overcome
with fatigue, destroyed a large portion of them. A space of two days'

WoUr 294, 295. t Wolff, 395. X Von Hammer, op. cit., 227. i Wolff, 298.

150 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

journey was strewn with corpses. Among the dead were the Archbishops
of Strigonia or Gran, and Calocza, three bishops, and a vast crowd of
lords. Bela escaped by the virtues of his horse to the countr>' of
Thurocz in the Carpathians, where he met his relative Boleslaf, the Duke
of Cracow. The King's brother, Coloman, who had fought splendidly,
escaped to his appanage of Dalmatia and Croatia, where he shortly after
died of his wounds. Among the captured booty was the seal of the
Hungarian Chancellor. This was used by Batu to prevent a muster of
the inhabitants. A proclamation in the King's name, and signed with
his seal, was issued: " Do not fear the rage and ferocity of these dogs;
do not quit your houses ; we have only been surprised ; we shall soon,
with God's help, recapture our camp. Continue to pray to God to assist
us in destroying our enemies." This had the desired effect of preventing
a general muster, while the Mongols overran the country. In the recent
battle, the slaughter had been the most terrible that had occurred in
Hungarian history. One authority says 65,000 men perished. Thurocz
and the chronicle of Klostenburgh put the loss at 100,000. Riderless
horses, with gorgeous trappings, rushed to and fro, and the Mongols
divided a magnificent booty.* They now marched upon Pesth, which
they captured.t

Pesth was not then what it has since become, the most important city
in Hungary. That position was then filled by Gran or Strigonia, situated
on the right bank of the Danube, and occupying in the commercial
history of the middle ages a correlative position with Kief, Novgorod,
Constantinople, &c., a great emporium of traffic where merchants from
distant climes congregated, we are told that Frenchmen, Lombards,
Greeks, and Armenians were gathered there ; and a document in which
Bela the Fourth renewed certain privileges to the Armenians after the
retreat of the Mongols, is one of the first evidences we have of the
enterprise of that indomitable race of pedlars in Central Europe. It was
on the 25th of December, 1241, when the Danube was frozen over that the
Mongols crossed the ice to attack Strigonia, or Gran ; the old city was
protected by ramparts and towers of wood. They battered it with thirty
catapults, made a breach and filled the ditch with sacks of earth ;
the inhabitants set fire to all the wooden part of the town, de-
stroyed large magazines of merchandise and buried much of their
treasure. The enraged Mongols took a speedy revenge, they stormed the
town and destroyed its inhabitants, many of whom were burnt over fires
to make them disclose where their buried treasures lay. The citadel,
defended by a gallant Spaniard, the Count Simeon, defied their attacks.

While Batu was engaged in capturing Gran, it would seem that Kadan
was detached in pursuit of Bela. That unfortunate prince had taken
refuge with the Duke of Austria, at Presburg. There he was detained and

* Wolff, 306, Ac. t D'ObMOD, ii. 147.

OGOTAI KHAN. 151

compelled to pay a large ransom in silver and other valuables. Not
satisfied with this cruel conduct, Frederick caused the western provinces
of Hungary to be invaded while the eastern ones were being desolated by
the Mongols. Bela on quitting Austria took refuge with his family in
Croatia, where he spent the sunmier. Here he collected the chief
treasures of his kingdom, which he sent on with his family into Dalmatia,
whose towns were now crowded by Hungarian refugees. Bela with a
great number of prelates and nobles went first to Spalatro and then to
Trau.

Kadan first captured Buda, or Ozen, the twin town to Pesth, situated on
the opposite side of the Danube. He then advanced upon Stuhlweissen-
burg, the burial place of the old Hungarian kings. They burnt the
outskirts, but the town was saved, Von Hammer says on account of a
sudden thaw, which partially laid the country under water. Some of the
credit was also due to its Italian garrison. At all events the old tombs
were spared for their later fate when the town was attacked by the
Turks 300 years after.* The monastery of St. Martin of Pannonia, now
called St. Martinsberg, situated two and a half German miles S.E. of
Raab, was so well defended by its Abbot that the Mongols also passed it
by. They were famous pursuers, and seldom gave their victims much
breathing time. Their way now led them along the shores of the Flatten
See, the great Himgarian lake, and on towards Croatia ; they broke
through places that were virgin soil to hostile feet, and whose inhabitants
went for shelter to the mountains and forests.

At a stream or lake called Sirbium by D'Ohsson, but corrected to
Verbium by Wolff, and identified by him with the Vcrbacz or Verbas in
the valley of Wintshutz and Bolitze, thirteen German miles N.E. of
Spalatro, in consequence perhaps of some act of treachery, he collected
all his Hungarian captives of both sexes, and made a general slaughter.
Leaving the bulk of his army there, he went on with a portion only to
the coast of the Adriatic.t

At Spalatro was collected a vast crowd of people with their wealth ;
they overflowed the houses, and were encamped in the squares and
streets. The list of notabilities has a stately sound about it. Among
the clerics were Stephen de Vancza, Bishop of Waizen, later Arch-
bishop of Gran, and afterwards distinguished as the first Hungarian
Cardinal; the Bishops of Agram, Funfkirchen, and Varadin; the Provost
Benedict of Weissenbuigh, Archbishop elect of Calocza, &c., &c. Among
the la>'men, Dionysius Ban of Slavonia and the Coastlands, and Count
of Shumegh ; the Palatine, Arnold ; the High Steward, Wladislaf ; the
Treasurer, Matthaias: the Master of the Horse, Orlando; the Chief Cook,
Roland; the Chief Herald, Tristram ; the Chief Cup-bearer, Mauritius, &c.,
&c., with a vast body of others. When Bela came near the city the chief

• Von Hammer, 124. Wolff, 338, 339- t Wolff, 353.

152 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

inhabitants, under their Podesta, came out to greet him; but he did not
intend staying there, although it was well situated for defence, being built
pn a peninsula, like many of the strongholds of the old Greeks and the
Norsemen, but he took ship and retired to Trau, on the Gulf of Castello.
Kadan approached Spalatro and hovered near it for some days, but did
not attack it. He probably found it too sti'ong. He had also heard of
Bela's flight, so he advanced with his Mongols towards Trau. On the
way he attacked the fortress of Clissa, but was sharply answered. The
Mongols prepared to attack Trau with vigour, but seem to have found
it unassailable, and found also that as Bela had taken refuge on
shipboard, he was practically out of their reach. They marched through
Herzegovina and Servia into Upper Dalmatia ; passed through the district
of Ragusa; laid Cataro in ashes ; entered Albania, and ruined the towns
of Doivach (Suagium) and Drivasto, 42.15 N.L., two German miles
N.E. of Scutari. This was the most southern point reached by
their arms in this expedition. Having been sununoned by Batu to
return, they made their way towards the beginning of May over the
Glubotin mountains through Servia into Bulgaria.*

While Kadan was sent in pursuit of Bela, another body of Mongols
made an excursion to the borders of Austria. They were met on the
borders of the river March, in the district of Theben or Devin, by the
Duke of Austria, and sustained a defeat, which is mentioned by the
Chinese account in Gaubil, as well as by Haithon the Armenian Prince, and
the Western chroniclers.t There is also an account in the narrative of
Ivo of Narbonne, and others, which would make it appear that the
Mongols made another raid into Austria, south of the Danube, and
advanced as far as Vienna ; but that the Duke of Austria collected a force
of Bohemians, Carinthians, &c, and this caused them to retire. Among
eight captives whom they secured was a renegade Englishman, who
spoke seven languages, namely, his own tongue, Hungarian, Russian,
German, Comanian (? Turkish), Saracenic (/.<?., Arabic), and Tartar (/.^.,
Mongol).

Banished from England for some crime, he had wandered from Tana
eastwards, and had entered the service of the Mongols as an interpreter. J
Ivo's narrative seems to be not altogether consistent, but it is in itself
highly probable that while encamped in Hungary the Mongols made some
raids upon the eastern marches of Austria. It is more certain that
during the pursuit of Bela, Subutai with another Mongol army made a
terrible invasion of Southern Hungary, on the left bank of the Danube,
and Transylvania. These proceedings were described by an eye-witness,
Roger, a canon of Varadin, in a work styled miserabile carmen. At the
sack of Varadin he took shelter in the woods, where he lived for a while
a miserable fugitive, furtively returning at night to some ruined village

•Wolff, 363. t Wolff, a59-a6a. J Von Hammer, op. cit, la;, ia8. Wolff, 341-348.

OGOTAI KHAN. 1 53

to search among the corpses for food. When the Mongols offered to
spare the lives of those who returned to their own villages, he preferred
to go to their camp, where he entered the service of a Hun-
garian who had joined the invaders, and half naked he tended his
equipage. Here he was in constant fear of death, and noticed how the
Mongols preserved the houses and bams, the wheat and straw, and even
the fanners when they intended to winter, and how they destroyed every-
thing as soon as they left. They seem to have utterly wasted a large part
of the country, and to have slaughtered its inhabitants without mercy.
They now received orders to march homewards. Roger tells us that
they traversed the forests to spy out and destroy everything that had
escaped their first invasion, the captives were fed on the entrails, the
feet, and heads of the cattle, which served for food to the Tartars. At
length, hearing from the interpreters that after their retreat from Hungary
they proposed to make a general massacre, Roger and his servant
escaped and hid in a hole in the forest for two days, and then returned
over the desolate country feeding on roots and herbs. After eight days
they arrived at Alba (probably Alba Julia), where they found only human
bones, and the walls of churches and palaces red with blood. The cause
of the Mongol retreat was the death of Ogotai, which occurred on the
nth of December, 1241. On hearing of this, Batu collected his various
contingents together, and prepared to return towards the Volga. Before
returning, the Mongols published in their camp a decree that all strangers,
whether free or captive, were at liberty to return home. A crowd of
Hungarians and slaves accordingly left the camp on a fixed day, but
whether from some caprice or as a part of their general policy, they were
pursued and cut to pieces.*

Bela did not return to Hungary until he was well assured of the definite
retreat of the Mongols. He found his country a desert, in which famine
was completing the work of the sword.

The battle of Lignitz, and the subsequent barbarities of the victors
filled the empire with terror, and a crusade was preached against them,
to which all were asked to contribute. Pope Gregory the Ninth issued
letters to the faithful couched in the language of grief and terror : " Many
things," he says, "the sad state of the Holy Land, and the deplorable
condition of the Roman empire, occupy our attention ; but we will not
name them, we will forget them in the presence of the ills caused by the
Tartars. The notion that they will eradicate the name of Christian
shatters all our bones, dries up our marrow, &c., .... we know not
which way to turn.'*

The terrible apparition of the savage hordes gave rise to many hyper-
bolic descriptions. Vincent 6f Beauvais tells us "that before Batu invaded
Hungary he sacrificed to the demons, one of whom who lived in an idol

* D'Oliuoo, ii. 159.

154 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

addressed him and bade him march on hopefully ; that he would send
three spirits before him, before whom his enemies should not be able to
stand;" and that this came to pass, the three spirits being the spirit of
discord, the spirit of mistrust, and the spirit of fear. • Ivo of Narbonne
has a marvellous account : he tells us, inter aliUy that the Mongol princes
who had dogs' heads ate the bodies of the dead, leaving only the bones for
the vultures, which foul birds, however, despised and rejected these
remnants. The old and ugly women were divided into daily portions
among the conmion folk ; the pretty young women having been ravished,
had their breasts torn open, and were reserved as titbits for the
grandees, t

These hyperbolic phrases of the European chroniclers may be matched
by those of the Persians. In enumerating the various qualities of the
Mongols, we are told by Vassaf that they had the courage of lions, the
endurance of dogs, the prudence of cranes, the cunning of foxes, the far-
sightedness of ravens, the rapacity of wolves, the keenness for fighting of
cocks, the tenderness for their offspring of hens, the wiliness of cats in
approaching, and the impetuosity of boars in overthrowing their prey ; }
or as Von Hanuner says, we may enumerate their virtues in condensing
the various qualities of the twelve animals that made up their Zodiac : —
Thievish as mice, strong as oxen, fierce as panthers, cautious as hares,
artful as serpents, frightful as dragons, mettlesome as horses, obedient as
sheepi loving of their offspring as apes, domestic as hens, faithful as
dogs, and unclean as swine. § Gibbon tells us how the dread of their
invasion spread to the further comers of Europe, and how through
fear of them the fishermen of Gothia {i.e., of Sweden) and of
Frisia, in 1238, failed to attend the herring fishery on the English
coast, and how in consequence the price of herrings was largely
augmented. |

Europe was then so divided, the great feud between the Emperor
Frederick the Second and the Popes being one chief cause of it, and the
extreme development of feudal notions being another, that, as D'Ohsson
says, it is probable that it only escaped the fate of Hungary by the oppor-
tune death of the Khakan Ogotai. The severe discipline of the Mongols
proved more than a match for the personal bravery of a few knights,
hampered, if protected, by heavy armour, and an undisciplined crowd of
peasants, their retainers. To their discipline they also added other
soldierly virtues, fertihty of invention, and very able strategy and tactics.
In fact, if we only consider that the Mongols came from an obscure
comer of Asia, had neither maps of the country, nor even any definite
means of learning its topography ; that they were complete strangers not

• WolflF, 287. t Wolflf, 344- I WoIfiF, i j6. ^ Von Hammer, Ilkhant» 44.

I Gibbon, viii. 15. Note.

OGOTAI KHAN. 155

only to Europe, but also to western modes of thought, &c. ; that they did
not prepare themselves for a campaign by a long series of experiments,
but riished over a country like an avalanche ; that their commissariat and
transport was adapted to the steppes and deserts of Asia and not to the
very different state of things in Europe ; we must consider it as little
short of miraculous, not only that they should have been so successful,
but also that their strategic plans should have been so scientifically laid.
No doubt their terrible system of wholesale slaughter and cruelty cowed
and unnerved their opponents ; no doubt, also, they were served by
Comans, Russians, &c., some of those vagabond and mercenary spirits
ready enough to act as guides and pioneers to any invader who promises
plunder. But granting this, we shall still not cease to wonder at the
exploit, and to compare it as a military achievement . with any in the
world's history.

While Batu was absent in Hungary, the Kipchaks attacked the Mongol
reserves on the Volga, commanded by Sinkur, his ninth brother, but
were defeated. An army was sent in pursuit of the fugitives under Ilmika.
This advanced into Daghestan beyond Derbend, and even into Shirvan.*
Sinkur himself made a campaign on the Kama against the Bulgarians and
their neighbours. It was probably to this occasion that we must refer the
statement of Torfaeus, who tells us that during the reign of Hakon the
Second of Norway (12 17-1263), there arrived in the country many
Permian fugitives who had emigrated to escape the cruelty of the Tartars.
These fugitives were settled about the Malanger Gulf, t Wolff says that
the Mongol arms reached to the Upper Kama and the Wytshegda, and
as far as Petschova. | Raschid mentions a campaign undertaken by the
Mongol princes against the land of Uriungkut Badadj. § Von Hanmier
has identified this with the land of the Eastern Urianguts, or
Soyol ; I but this seems to me to be altogether wrong, and Raschid's
reference is probably to the Samoyedic and Finnic tribes of Permia or
Archangel.

Having traced out the progress of the three military escpeditions
authorised by the Kuriltai of 1235, we will return once more to Ogotai,
He proceeded to build himself a palace, called the Ordu Balik, or the city
of the Ordu, at Karakorum, where he had fixed his court. The position
of the celebrated city has been much debated and was discussed
at great length by Abel R^musat. «f It is generally agreed that
it was situated near the river Orkhon, or Orgon. Gaubil, from data
furnished by the Chinese astronomer Ko-cheou-king, who lived in the
reig^ of Kubilai Khan, places it in 42.21 N.L. and 103.40 E.L. of the
meridian of Paris. R^musat argues that the calculation is wrong, and

* Wolff, 382. D*Obsson, ii. 629. t D'Ohsson, ii. 186. I Op. cit., 383.

f D*Ohssoa, ii. 629. B Von Hammer's Golden Horde, 129. Wolff, 383.

H If emoiret tur plnsieiin qvettions relatiTea a U Geograpbie de I'Aaia Centrale. Paris, 1823,

1 58 HISTORY or THE MONGOLS.

Ikho, and Bin chau and Lai chau to Adjitai. The Prince Kutan, Cheku
(a relative of Ogotai's), the Princesses Alikha and Gatchin, the^Princes
Chalakhu, Jagatai Tankin, Mongu, and Khantcha, and the Noyans Angui
Tsing, and Khoss kissu received lands in the department of Tung ping
fu, in Shantung.*

The princes of the blood had been wont to seize upon as many post
horses as they needed, and to make requisition at their will for other
articles. In 1237 Yeliu Chutsai fixed the number of horses a person of
each rank was entitled to, and prescribed the use of passports or warrants,
which were to be presented when any demand was made. He also
renewed the old examinations in the various towns, and made proficiency
in them the test of capacity for public appointments. Death was the
penalty awarded to those who prevented their slaves from attending. He
also founded two colleges, one at Yanking, the other at Pin Yang, in
Shansi, where the Mongol youth were taught history, geography, arith-
metic, and astronomy.t Such was the reform instituted in the empire by
the Imperial Chancellor. Let us now turn to his master.

Ogotai, the powerful over-lord of the vast empire, gave himself up to
luxury and excessive drinking. He only lived for one month in the
spring at Karakorum, the rest of this season he spent at a place called
Kertchagan, a day's journey thence, where his Persian architects had built
a palace to rival that built for him at Karakorum by the Chinese. The
summer he passed at a place called Ormektua. There is a mountain
and station called Urmukhtui near the river Shara, a tributary of the
Orgon, twenty-two leagues south of Kiakhta, on the way to Urga.J
There Ogotai lived under a Chinese pavilion made of white felt lined
with gold embroidered silken tissue; this tent, which would hold 1,000
people, was known as the Sira Ordu. In autumn he spent a month
near the lake Keuke.§ The winter, the great hunting season, he passed
at Ongki, where he had enclosed a space two leagues in circumference,
with a ramp of earth and stakes. Into this the game was driven. Ogotai
was an habitual drunkard. In vain his brother Jagatai and his minister
Yeliu Chutsai counselled him of the danger he ran, the latter showing him
a piece of iron corroded with wine as a warning of its effects on the
stomach. In March, 1241, he fell ill, and on his partial recovery he
granted a general anmesty to all prisoners and exiles, but his malady
returned, and he at length died on the nth of December, I24i,atthe
age of fifty-six, and was buried in the valley of Kinien|| (/.^., another name
for the Imperial cemetery, whose site we have already described sub voce,
Jingis Khan). He was a benevolent and very generous prince. " Every-
body is a traveller here, it is well therefore to perpetuate oneself in the
memory of men." " Money cannot stave off death, and, as we cannot

*D*Oh88on,ii.70. Note. t D'Ohston, ii. 72. X D'Ohsson, ii. 84. Note.

f Von Hammer't II Khans, z. 55. Note. | D'Ohitop, ii. 87.

OGOTAI KHAN. 1 59

return from the other world, we ought to deposit our treasures in the
hearts of our people," were among his favourite mottoes. But, like all rich
heirs, his generosity was apt to be prodigal. When Karakorum was
being built he entered his treasury one day and found it full of money.
" What use is this money to me," he said, " it only costs me pain to
guard it," and he ordered all who wanted balishs (/>., silver coin) to come
and help themselves. He always paid exorbitantly for what he bought,
on principle, because he wished to encourage merchants to come to him,
and bought the whole of a merchant's stock to distribute it in largess. In
a freak of generosity he gave a beggar from Baghdad a thousand balishs^
furnished him with horses to carry his coin, and also with an escort to
protect him on his long journey home; the old man died on the way, and
the Khakan ordered the money to be forwarded for his daughters.*

One day when hunting, a poor man gave him three melons, having no
money by him he told his wife Monga to give him two great pearls that hung
from her ears, and when she said he did not know their value, and that he
had better return the following day, the Khakan said, ** Can a poor man
wait till to-morrow ?" and ordered the pearls to be given him at once ;
they were immediately sold for very little, and the purchaser, who did
not know their history, presented them to the Khakan as an act of
homage, by whom they were returned to Monga. When an envoy from
Fars brought him a present of two vases full of pearls, Ogotai produced
a chest full, and ordered them to be served out in wine glasses to the
guests at the evening banquet as a present.

Ogotai was also very good-natured : by the law of Jingis the punish-
ment awarded to those who bathed in running water in the spring or
summer was death ; one day returning from hunting with his brother
Jagatai, they found a poor Mussulman bathing ; Jagatai would have had
him killed immediately, but his brother secretly caused a silver coin to be
throvm into the stream, and the Mussulman was allowed to plead that as
a poor man who had lost his coin in the stream grace might be extended
to him. Ogotai being privy of course to the deception.t

An enemy of the Mussulmans once came to him and said that Jingis
had sent him to tell him to exterminate the Mussulmans; having thought
a minute, Ogotai asked him if Jingis Khan employed an interpreter, he
said "No." "And dost thou know Mongol?" he said he only knew
Turk. " Thou art a liar then, for Jingis only knew Mongol," and he had
him put to death.t

One day some Chinese showmen were performing before him and
exhibiting their celebrated shadow figures, one of these, a figure of an old
man with a white beard dragged by the neck at the tail of a horse,
was somewhat exultingly pointed out by the conceited Chinese as
showing how the Mussulmans were treated by the Mongol horsemen.

* D*01inon« ii. 90. t D'Obnon, ii. 93* I D'Ohtson, iL 94.

l6o HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Ogotai Stopped them, and having produced the richest articles in his
treasury of Chinese and of Persian make, he showed them how inferior
the former were ; he said that many of his rich Mussuhnan subjects had
many Chinese slaves, but no Chinaman had any Mussulman slaves. You
know that by the laws of Jingis a Mussulman's life is valued at forty
balishs, while a Chinaman's is valued the same as a donkey ; how dare
you then insult the Mussulmans.

Ogotai was very fond of wrestling, and imported famous wrestlers
from Persia, one of whom, Pild, was especially celebrated. The Khakan
gave him a beautiful girl for a wife, but he would not sleep with .her ; and
on being asked why by the Khakan, he replied that having won such
great fame at his court he did not wish to be beaten, but to retain his
strength and preserve the favour of the Khakan ; the latter replied that
he wished to have more of his race, and that he would dispense with his
trials of strength for the future.*

One anecdote is told which speaks of his severity. It was reported
among the Uirats that the Khakan intended to marry their daughters to
men of other tribes, and they immediately affianced them. When Ogotai
heard of this he ordered all the girls above seven years old of that tribe,
and those who had been married during the year, to be ranged in a row
to the number of 4,000. Having picked out the fairest for himself and
his officers, and sent others to the public brothels, he ordered all the rest
to be scrambled for by his soldiers, and this before their fathers,
husbands, and brothers, and it is said no one murmured. These
anecdotes give one a good idea of some traits of Mongol life at this
period. The chief wife of Ogotai was Turakina, by whom he had five
tons, Kuyuk, Kutan, Kutchu, Karadjar, and Kashi ; his two other sons,
Kadan Ogul and Melik, were by concubines.t

Whether we rank him as a most fortunate conqueror, as a mighty
potentate ruling an empire to which that of Napoleon or Alexander was
very small, or as an administrator who managed to frame rules by which
the vast mass was riveted together for a long period, we must concede
to Ogotai the character of one of the greatest monarchs the world has
seen. Nor does it detract from his position that most of the work was
done for him by other hands, it is in the choice of fit servants that the
masters of large empires oftenest fail. The great name of Jingis has at
least in EngUsh literature almost eclipsed that of his son, nor can this
be other than a very modest attempt to draw more attention to him.

KUYUK KHAN.

Ogotai had named his third son Kutchu as his successor, but he
had died in 1236 in China. He next named his grandson Shiramun,
the son of Kutchu ; but Ogotai's widow, the Empress Turakina, wished

* D'Ohsson, ii. 96. t D'OhMon, ii. 99.

KUVUK KHAN. l6l

the honour for Kuyuk, her eldest son, who had distinguished himself in
the campaign against the Kins and also under Batu, and who, according
to the usual Mongol rule of succession, was the next heir. He had in
1241 received orders to return to Tartary, and heard of his father's death
en route. Turakina now issued a summons to the different princes of
the house to come to a Kuriltai for the election of a successor. Jagatai
and those princes who were at hand appointed Turakina regent during
the interregnum. This appointment was the beginning of long troubles
to the Mongol dynasty. The regent commenced by displacing Chinkai,
who had been Imperial Chancellor, and one of whose duties it was to take
down daily the sayings of the Emperor. Her next act was more im-
portant. A Muhammedan merchant named Abd-ur-Rahman had gained
her entire confidence. The taxes imposed upon China had been calcu-
lated and levied by the celebrated Yeliu Chutsai, and on the final con-
quest of the Kins had been fixed at 1,100,000 ounces of silver annually.
Abd-ur-Rahman offered 2,200,000 to be allowed to feirm them, and not-
withstanding the opposition of Yeliu Chutsai, he was appointed head of
the Imperial finances. Yeliu Chutsai died of grief at the prospect of
seeing the fruits of his labours, for the improved condition of his country,
thus sacrificed. This was in June, 1244, when he was fifty-five years old.
It was suggested that one who had been so long Finance Minister must
have accumulated a large fortune. They accordingly searched his house,
but only found there books, maps, medals, stones with ancient inscrip-
tions, and instruments of music, the surroundings in fact of a student. One
of Ogotai's successors gave him the posthimious title of King of Kuana
hing, and the style Yen tcheng.* His tomb still remains at the foot of the
mountain Wan Shen, three leagues and a half from Peking. In 1757
the Government built a new temple on the spot, and also a monument
with an inscription, the old one being decayed. In it are statues of
himself and his wife. His, like that of Moses by Michael Angelo, has a
majestic beard reaching to his knees.t

The empire soon after lost a very valuable servant in Massudbey, the
governor of Turkestan and Transoxiana, which, though nominally
attached to the Khanate of Jagatai, now that there was a minor on the
throne of that Khanate, were more immediately under the Imperial
control. Massud had been a capital administrator and had restored pros^
perity to those provinces so much ravaged by Jingis. He did not trust
the new regime, and deemed it prudent to fly ; he escaped to Batu Khan.
The Regent also sent one of her favourites called Argun into Persia to
replace Kurguz, its governor, who had long been obnoxious to her; he wa^
imprisoned and Aigun placed in his office. We are told that Turakina
was entirely guided by the advice of one of her females, Fatima, a Persian
who had been captured at the sack of Thus.

• D'OiMOB, it. Z9S. tD*OhMon,op.cit.,Z9S- Note.

l62 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Temugu Utsuken, the youngest brother of Jingls, as the last survivor
of his generation, had some claims to the throne. He seems to have
made a feeble effort to obtain it, but was apparently so little encouraged
that he converted his journey in search of a throne into one of con-
gratulation.

The general Kuriltai had been summoned to meet at the place near
lake Keukee, where Ogotai generally spent the summer. Its meeting
was delayed until the spring of 1246 by the tardy march of Batu Khan,
who was now the most important prince among the Mongols. He pre-
tended that his horses' feet were bad^ but his real reason was his hatred
foi^ the Regent and her son Kuyuk. After all he did not attend the Diet,
which was held without him. We are told that the different routes that
converged from- all parts of Asia upon Sira Ordu, where the Kuriltai was
held, were crowded with travellers ; there came Utsuken, the brother of
Jingis, with his forty-eight sons ; the widow of Tului and her sons ; the
various descendants of Ogotai, Juji, and Jagatai ; the miHtary and civil
governors of the Mongol possessions in China ; Argun and Massud, the
governors of Persia and Turkestan and Transoxiana ; Rokn-ud-din, the
Seljuk Sultan of Rum ; Yaroslaf, Grand Duke of Russia ; two rivals for
the crown of Georgia, both called David ; the brother of the Sultan of
Aleppo; the ambassadors of the Khalif of Baghdad, of the Ismailyen Prince
of Alamut, of the Princes of Mosul, Fars and Kerman, and Sempad)
brother of Haithon, King of Cilicia, each bearing magnificent presents.
** Among the great magnates two obscure monks were conspicuous by
their humble dress and the greatness of their mission ; ** diey came fix>m
the Pope and the council of Lyons to convert the Mongols, one of the
two was Du Piano Carpino, who has described for us the ceremonies of
installation.

Two thousand white tents were erected for the grandees, who were so
numerous that they had barely opportunity to bow their heads and pass
on. A vast multitude of the commonalty were camped outside them.
The princes of the blood and great generals met in a large tent which
would hold 2,000 people, surrounded at some distance by a balustrade
covered with pictures. The tent had two entrances, one for the Emperor
was unguarded, no one would have the audacity to attempt an entrance
there; the other was guarded by soldiers with bows and swords. Each
morning the assembly spent in discussing the business of the meeting; the
afternoons were consumed in drinking kumis. Each day the members were
dressed in a different colour. The first day in white, the second in red,
the third in purple, and the fourth in scarlet. Some of the grandees were
mounted on horses whose harness cost more than twenty silver marks.

Before his election Kuyuk was treated with great deference;* when he
went abroad they sang songs in his praise and bent towards him wands

^ Cupino qnoted bjr De Mailla, ix. 243.

KUYUK KHAN. 163

tenniiuited by bunches of scarlet wool When the time of election came
the R^ent and the members of the assembly repaired to a tent two or
three leagues away from the Sira Ordu, called the golden tent, becaiise
its pillars were covered with plates of gold fastened with golden studs, car-
peted with scarlet, and covered with drapery, and debated about the
choice of an Emperor. Shiramun was the late Emperor's choice, but
the Regent pointed out that he was still a minor, and persuaded them to
elect Kuyuk. He coyly refused the honour for a while, according to the
usual custom, and at length accepted it as Ogotai had done, on condition
that they swore to maintain it in his family. According to Simon de St
Quentm and the Armenian Haiton, the grandees of the court placed
him and his wife on a piece of square black felt, and having raised him
aloft proclaimed him Khakan ; this is evidently a very ancient and wide^
spread custom/ The members of the assembly did homage by pros-
trating themselves nine times, and the vast multitude outside at the same
time bent their foreheads to the ground. Kuyuk with his followers then
left the tent and did obeisance three times to the sun. The ceremony
concluded with a feast, during which the newly-elected Khakan was
seated on a throne with the princes on his right and the princesses on his
left. The repast lasted until midnight, and the hall resounded with music
and martial songs. The banquet was renewed for seven days, and then a
general largess was distributed, each one receiving a present according
to his rank. Kuyuk wished to surpass the liberality of his father. We
are told that he bought merchandise to the value of 70,000 balishes, and
paid for it with drafts upon the conquered countries. It was lavishly
distributed among the crowd; even the children and servants received
presents. A second distribution was made, which did not exhaust the
vast stores, and Kuyuk ended by ordering the remains to be given up to
pillage.t Carpino says that there were placed on a hill, not far from the
Imperial residence, more than 500 chariots filled with gold, silver, and
silken robes, which were all distributed.

The first business gone into by Kuyuk was an inquiry into the conduct
of his great uncle Utsuken, who, as I said, had some pretensions to the
throne. Mangu, son of Tului, and Orda, son of Juji, were appointed to
investigate the matter, and it led to several of Utsuken's officers being
punished.}

The election took place in August, 1246. Immediately afterwards the
Kuriltai busied itself with repairing many of the breaches of government
which had occurred during the regency. The Khakan severely repri-
manded the members of the Imperial family who had abused their power,
and given indiscriminately to some, exemption from taxes, to others, the
right to levy them. The family of Tului was excepted from this censure,

* Compare the acconnts of the election of Attila and of the kin^ of Hungary,
t D'OhMon, ii. 197-203. | D'Ohsson, ii. 203.

1 64 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

and received a special eulogium. He then invested Yissu Manga, son of
Jagatai, with his father's Khanate, contrary to the directions of Jagatai
himself, who had left it to his grandson Kara Hulagu. Kuyuk in altering
the disposition said it was strange the grandson should be preferred to
the son.* In 1247 he sent an army to Corea, whose King had refused
to pay tribute; another army, under Subutai and Chagan, was sent
against the Sung empire in China ; a third, commanded by Iltchikadai,
was sent into Persia. To raise it each of the princes of the blood
had to furnish two men out of every ten, and Iltchikadai was
ordered to raise a similar proportion in Persia itself; the king-
doms of Georgia and Rum, and the principalities of Mosul,
Diarbekir, and Aleppo were placed under his exclusive jurisdic-
tion, with the sole right of levying taxes there. Argun retained the
government of Persia, and Massud that of Turkestan and Transoxiana,
and each of them had his diploma sealed with the lion, as had also the
various petty princes who acknowledged the Mongol supremacy and
retained their independence. Abd-ur- Rahman was put to death ;
and the chancellary was apparently divided between Chinkai and
Kaidak.t

Izz-ud-din Ki-kavuss, the Seljuk Sultan of Rum or Iconium, was
deposed and replaced by his brother Rokn-ud-din Kilidjarslan. Georgia
was divided between the two competitors who had come to the
installation.

The ambassadors of the Khalif and of the chief of the Ismailyens or
Assassins were sent home with severe threats for their masters, against
whom many complaints were brought by the Mongol generals; the
Kuriltai was then dissolved, and the several princes set out to their
various duties.^

The two Franciscan missionaries who attended the Kuriltai were John
de Piano Carpinoand Benedict, they had traversed Bohemia, Silesia, and
Poland ; living on alms, they were ill prepared to present themselves at a
court where every one was expected to bring a present. The Polish
Duke Conrad and his courtiers supplied them with rich furs as offerings,
they then proceeded to Kief, and in six days arrived at the Mongol out-
posts on the Dnieper ; the Mongol general sent them on to the court of
Batu, and he forwarded them on again ; they arrived at the Grand Ordu
on the 22nd of July, 1246, five months after leaving the Mongol outposts
on the Dnieper. They were admitted to an audience some days after
Kuyuk's election with a party of other ambassadors, whose names were
announced in a loud voice by the Chancellor Chinkai. They made the
usual obeisance before entering, were searched to see they had no
weapons, and instructed on no account to tread on the wooden threshold
of the tent. The papal letters were then read ; one of them exhorted the

* P'Ohnon, ii. 904, t Von Hammer, Ilkhani, i. 58. I D'Ohsion, ii. 207.

KUYUK KHAN. 165

Mongol chief to become a Christian, the other rated the nation severely
for its cruelties to its enemies, and implored the Khakan not to molest
the Christians any more. The Khakan dictated an answer, which was
sealed with his seal and translated into Arabic. If we are to credit
the version of it conveyed in a letter which the King of Cyprus received
from the constable of Armenia and forwarded to Louis the Ninth, it was
not very conciliatory : " God has conmianded my ancestors and myself
to send our people to exterminate the wicked nations. You ask if I am a
Christian; God knows, and if the Pope wishes to know also, he had
better come and see." *

Turakina died two months after her son's election; her death was
followed by that of her favourite, Fatima ; who was accused by one Shir6
of having by her sorceries caused Kutan, the Khakan's brother, to be ill.
He himself sent to his brother to complain of her baneful influence, and
when he shortly after died, Chinkai reminded Kuyuk of his brother's
message. She was ordered to be tried, and having confessed under the
pressure of the bastinado, her eyes, mouth, &c., were sewn up ; she was
wrapped in a felt and thrown into the river. Her friends were also
punished with death. It is strange that shortly after, her accuser, Shir^,
was himself accused of having bewitched Kuyuk's son Khodja Ogul, and
was put to death with his wives and children.t

Ssanang Setzen has a curious tale about a Kutan, or Godan as he calls
him. He makes him succeed Kuyuk and reign until 1251;^ but it is very
clear that he has mixed up Kutan, the brother of Kuyuk, with Kutan or
Godan, the brother of Khubilai. The latter was a very influential person,
as I shall show later, in introducing Lamaism among the Mongols ; and
the story told by Ssanang Setzen of his intercourse with the Grand Lama
is in accordance with what we know elsewhere of him. It is quite clear
that Kuyuk was succeeded by his cousin Mangu, as Grand Khan, and
that his brother Kutan died before him.

In the spring of 1248 Kuyuk set out for the banks of the Imil, his own
special uluss, where he distributed largess widely. The widow of Tului
suspected that the object of his march was an attack upon Batu, and put
him on his guard, but Kuyuk died suddenly at seven days' journey from
Bish Balig, the capital of Uiguria, aged forty-three. He was a great
victim to gout, the result of drinking and dissipation. He abandoned the
conduct of affairs entirely to his two ministers Kaidak and Chinkai, both
Christians,! and through their influence a great number of monks from
Asia Minor, Syria, Bagdad, Russia, and the Caucasus were attracted to
his court; his doctors also were Christians. Carpino saw before his tent a
Christian chapel; Raschid, on the other hand, complains of the severities
exercised towards the Muhanmiedans during his reign. The seal of Kuyuk

* D*OhuoD, U. 207-3x4. t D'Ohtton, ii. 233, 334* I Saanang Setxen, zxi.

§ D'Ohsson, ii. 234

1 66 HISTORY OF yHE MONGOLS.

bore these words : ^* God in heaven and Kuyuk on earth, by the power of
God the ruler of all men/'

Carpino describes Kuyuk as of middle stature, grave and serious in
disposition, and as seldom laughing.*

The names of two of his sons are recorded, namely, Khodja Ogul and
Nagu, but neither of them succeeded him.

In the life of Ogotai I carried down the Mongol campaign in Persia to
the death of the great general Churmagun ; he was replaced by Baiju,
whose first campaign was against Ghiath-ud-din Eei Khosru, Sultan of
Rum or Iconium; with him marched contingents of Armenians
and Georgians. They attacked Erzerum, and after two months'
si^e, in which the walls were broken down by catapults, they
captured it, put all the soldiery to death, and reduced the artisans and
women to captivity. The following year the Sultan of Iconiimi advanced
to meet them with 20,000 men; with him marched 2,000 Frank
auxiliaries under the "Free Lance" John Liminata from Cyprus, and
Boniface de Castro, a Genoese. A curious lesson for the crusades to
teach, that Christian soldiers should so early be found doing the work of
mercenaries for the Moslems. The Sultan advanced from Sivas, and
encountered the Mongols near the mountains of Alakuh or Kussadag;
with the first flight of Mongol arrows his army was seized with panic and-
fled. The Sultan sent his harem to Haithon, the Armenian chief of
Cilicia, for protection, and then abandoned his camp with the baggage
and treasure. The Mongols at first suspected it was a ruse to draw
them into an ambush, and it was only after waiting for a day that they
advanced and pillaged the abandoned camp, marched upon Sivas, which
purchased easy terms by a prompt submission; Tocate and Caesarea
were successively sacked. Baiju now agreed to make peace upon
the terms that the Sultan should pay the Mongols an annual
tribute of 400,000 dinars, and a certain number of slaves, horses, and other
valuables. This campaign lasted two months. In retiring from Rum
the Mongols demanded a contribution in silver from the town of Erzenjan,
which being refused, it was taken by assault and its inhabitants murdered*
This campaign took place in June and July, 1243.!

Meanwhile another body of Mongols had made a diversion into Syria,
where they advanced as far as Aleppo ; they levied a contribution and
retired. On their return they appeared before the town of Malattiya, but
we are told its Prefect having collected a great quantity of money, of gold
and silver vases, having further collected the reliquaries of the saints and
other precious objects preserved in the Jacobite cathedral, altogether
worth 40,000 pieces of gold, delivered them all to the Mongols^ who there-
upon retired. Soon after this Bohemund, Prince of Antioch, and many

* D'Ohsson, ii. 934.
t S«e Bar Hebrsm quoted by D*OhsMii, op. dt., iii. 82. Von Hammer't Ilkhaas, L xxz.

KUYUK KHAN. 167

oAcr Giristian princes agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols. Their
example was followed by Haithon the First, the King of Little Armenia
or Cilicia, with whom the mother, wife, and daughter of the Sultan of
Rum had taken refuge ; the Mongols insisted that they should be sur-
rendered, and Haithon had to comply; at the same time he received
from them a diploma {aliamgd) constituting him a vassal of the Khakan.
This was in 1244. The following year they overran the country north of
kke Van, and took the town of Ehelatt, which by order of Ogatai
was made over to Thamtha, the sister of Avak, who had married the
Prince Achraf (? the Prince of Damas). They soon after captured Amid,
and, entering Mesopotamia, occupied Roha, Nisibin, and other towns,
which were deserted by the inhabitants at their approach. This
expedition, according to Chamchean, was made in summer, and the
Mongols lost many of their horses and were obliged to retire.

Their dominion, however, constantly widened, for we find the Prince of
Mosul sending word to the Prince of Damascus that he had concluded a
treaty with them, by which Syria became tributary. The same year, /.^.,
in 1245, news arrived at Bagdad that the town of Sheherzur, eight days'
journey to the north, had been pillaged by them. In 1246 they advanced
as fer as Yakuba, but were there beaten by the troops of the Khaliph.*

Ruzutan, the Queen of Georgia, had never submitted to the Mongols ;
she remained in her impregnable fortress of Usaneth, and no cajolery
could make her come out. Baiju thereupon determined to appoint a
fresh ruler who should be more subservient, and chose a nephew of hers,
a natural son of her brother George Lacha, the late ruler of Georgia ; he
sent an Armenian Vahram to bring him from Caesarea, where he had been
living for some years. The greater part of the Georgian princes, and the,
Amenian princes Avak, Chabanchah, and Alpugh, acknowledged him.
They conducted him to Metskhitha, the ancient patriarchal city of
Georgia, where he was crowned. They then marched to invest Usaneth,
iHiere the Queen^ driven to bay, poisoned herself. The Armenian historian
I hare already quoted says that she was very beautiful, and that she had
received offers of love fhmi Batu, the Khan of Kipchak ; she left her son
to his protection.

At the inauguration of Kuyuk, the proteges of Batu and Baiju appeared,
as I hare said, to claim the throne. It was decided to divide Georgia
between them. To David, son of Lacha, was given Georgia proper, with
a certain authority over his cousin who ruled in Imeretia, Mingrelia, and
Abkhazia, the boundary between the two being the watershed between
the Kur and the Phasis.

At iktt same Kuriltai, Sempad, the brother of Haithon of Glicia, who
was sent to do homage, obtained the restitution of certain towns which
had been taken from- his brother by the Sultans of Rum.t

* irOhMODi Ui. 89. t D*Oliwoii, op. cit., iii. 91.

l68 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

At the council of Lyons, in 1245, it was detennined to send some
missionaries into Tartary, and accordingly Innocent the Fourth wrote to
the Prior of the Dominicans at Paris to tell him to choose some suitable
persons. There were numerous volunteers, from whom four were chosen,
namely : Anselm of Lombardy, Simon de St. Quentin, Alberic, and
Alexander. They received orders to go to the first Mongol army they
should meet in Persia. * It was in 1 247 that they reached the camp of Baiju,
which Simon says was at a place named Sitiens, forty-nine days' journey
from Acre.t They were charged with letters from the Pope to the
Khakan, these were not addressed specifically and merely to the chief of
the Tartars, which incensed the Mongols : " Does not your master
know," they said, " that the Khan is the son of God, that Baiju Noyan is
his lieutenant ; their names ought to be known everywhere." They then
required the monks to honour Baiju with three genuflections, but supposing
that this would be interpreted into an act of homage, they refused, saying,
they were prepared to pay him the same honour they paid their own
master. The retort was a somewhat protestant one : " You who adore
wood and stone ought not to refuse to adore Baiju Noyan, to whom the
Khakan, the son of God, has ordered that the same honours are to be
paid as to himself." The whole account is quaint, it is given at length
by D'Ohsson in his second volume, the Pope's letters were translated into
Persian, and from that language into Mongol. At length after long delays
the monks were sent back to the Pope with the following answer : " By
the order of the divine Khan ; Baiju sends you this reply, know O Pope
that your envoys have come and brought your letters. They have spoken
in a haughty tone, we don't know if you ordered them to speak thus.
Your letters contain among other things the following complaint, * You
have killed many people,' but see the commandment of God and of him
who is master of all the earth. Whoever obeys us remains in possession
of his land, of his water and patrimony .... but whoever resists us shall
be destroyed. We transmit you this order. Pope, so that if you would
preserve your land and water and patrimony you must come to us in
person and thence pass on to present yourself before him who is master
of all the earth. If you don't obey. . . .we don't know what will happen,
God only knows," &c. With this document was sent a copy of the
instructions furnished to Baiju of how he was to deal with those who
obeyed or disobeyed the precepts contained in the letter, which were those
of Jingis Khan. This correspondence is a good instance of the intoler-
able arrogance of the Mongob. The missionaries, says Simon (one of
them), were treated as dogs unworthy of answer, the freedom of their
language irritated Baiju very much, and he three times ordered their
execution.^

Meanwhile the Mongols continued their conquests. In 1252-3 they

<» D'Ohuoo, ii. 208. tD'01iMon,op.dt,ii.22i. Note. I D'Ohnon, op. dt, U. ati-asi.

KUYUK KHAN. 169

entered Mesopotamia, pillaged Diarbekr and Meyafarkin, and advanced
as far as Rees ain and Surudj, in which expedition they killed more than
lOyOOO men, and captured a caravan on its way from Harran to Bagdad.
Inter alia they thus acquired 600 loads of sugar and of Egyptian cotton,
besides 600,000 dinars.* The same year another body of Mongols
ravaged the country in the neighbourhood of Malattya.t

Let us now turn to the doings of the civil governors of Persia.

Kurguz, whom I described as setting out towards the Imperial court,
and as having retraced his steps when he heard of the death of Ogotai,
imfortunately, as he was passing through Transoxiana, quarrelled with
an officer of the Uluss of Jagatai. The latter threatened to report
him to his mistress, the widow of Jagatai, and as he returned a some-
what saucy answer, which came to her ears, she was much irritated.

On the death of Ogotai, the chiefs of the Uluss of Jagatai sent Argun
with orders to bring Kurguz alive or dead, he resisted; but was given up
readily by the dependents whom his strong hand had controlled. His
seizure was the signal for fresh anarchy in Khorassan and Mazanderan.
He was sent on to the Khakan's court where his friends had disappeared,
and thence remitted back to the Uluss of Jagatai, where after a show of
trial he was put to death by order of Kara Hulagu, son of Jagatai. He
is said to have abjured Buddhism in his later days, and to have become
a Mussulman.^ Argun was thereupon appointed governor of Persia by
Turakina, the widow of Ogotai. He was a Uirat by birth, and had been
sold by his father during a famine for a quarter of beef to a Jelair officer,
who was tutor to Ogotai. As he knew how to write the Uighur character,
he eventually entered the chancellary of Ogotai, and was by him charged
with an important commission in China. He was also named com-
missioner to settle the dispute between Ongu Timur and Kurguz,
which he decided in favour of the latter, and was appointed co-adminis*
trator with him ; but Kurguz preferred to be supreme, and Argun retired
to the court of the Jagatai princes.§

On his return to Persia he asked that Sheref-ud-din should go with
him as Ulug Bitikudji, an office which he obtained through the influence
of Fatima. Originally the son of a porter, in Khuarezm, he became secre-
tary to Chin Timur, when he got his appointment in Khorassan.

Argun at once proceeded to Irak and Azerbaijan to relieve those
provinces from the exactions of the Mongol governors. At Tebriz he
received the submission of the sovereigns of Rum or Iconium, and of
Syria, and sent commissaries to those countries to receive their tribute*
Sherif-ud-din was an arbitrary, cruel man, whose exactions were pressed
by tortiu^ and other means. He was equally hard on the Moslem
ministers of religion, and on the widows and orphans, who had been

* D*OliMon, iii. 92. t D'Ohsaon, iii. 92. J D'Oluson, iii. zax.

% D'OhMon, iii. 122.

I70 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

tenderly treated by Jingis ; parents sold their children to pay the taxes,
and where nothing else was to be had; the sheet was taken from the dying
man.

At Rayi, the various treasures that had been collected by his agents
were taken to the mosque into which the sumpter beasts were driven, and
their loads were ccvered with the sacred carpets. Fortunately his reign
was short, and he died in 1244.*

In 1246 Argun was sunmioned to the Kuriltai, where Kuyuk was elected
Khakan. He went with many rich presents, and we are told the most
acceptable of these to the court was a collection of the warrants, &c.,
which had been unlawfully granted during the interregnimi, which
exempted some from taxes and gave others the right of levying them,
covering the country with petty tyrants. Argun was confirmed in the
government of Persia. On his return he was met at Mem by a great
number of grandees, and held a grand fete. On the death of Kuyuk fresh
anarchy ensued, warrants for exemption and collection of taxes were
again indiscriminately granted.

On the death of Kuyuk, Batu, who had set out and had gone as far as
the Alak Tak mountains on his way to do homage to the Khakan, halted.
Pending the assembling of a Kuriltai, Ogul Gaimish, the widow of Kuyuk,
was appointed Regent with the consent of Batu. During the interregnum
there arrived at the court an embassy from Louis the Ninth, who was
then engaged in his crusade, and who like the rest of the world looked
upon the Mongol chief as the great Prester John, who had been sent to
assist him in his campaign against the Muhammedans. This embassy
took with it some magnificent presents, including a tent fitted up as a
chapel, made of scarlet cloth, embroidered with the chief events of the
life of Christ ; with it were sent chalices, books, and the vesseb used
in the service. He also sent a portion of the true cross. The two envoys,
who were Dominicans, travelled through Persia and Transoxiana. They
were well received by the Regent ; but the whole affair was misunderstood
by the Mongols, who looked upon it as an act of homage, and afterwards
considered Louis, much to his chagrin, as one of their dependents.t

I have now to describe a revolution which caused very great mischief
to the Mongols, and which led eventually in a large degree to the dis-
integration of their empire.

On the death of Kuyuk, measures were taken as usual to prevent the
news spreading until the heads of the house had been informed of it ;
travellers were stopped, conmiunications intercepted, and messengers
sent ofif to tell Batu and Siurkukteni, the widow of Tului. I have already
said that Batu, who was on his way to the court, halted at Alaktak, seven
days' journey from Kayalic. There he called a general Kuriltai. The
family of Ogotai objected, and said that it ought to have been summoned

* D*Ohsson, iii. zas. t D*OhMcm, ii. 236, ftc.

KUYUK KHAN. 171

in the ancient country of the Mongols, but they sent Timur Noyan,
governor of Karakorum, to assent in their name to whatever was done.
The result was somewhat unexpected.

Since Juji had quarrelled with his brothers Ogotai and Jagatai, there
seems to have been a constant feud between the families. Tului and Juji
had married two sisters, so that their children were doubly cousins, and
naturally clung together. The Mongol world was divided into two sec-
tions, to each of which two of the great houses belonged. It is probable
also that the £unily of Juji, the eldest son, never quite acquiesced in the
appointment of the younger son Ogotai and his family to the headship
of the whole house. At all events Batu did not disguise his dislike
for the descendants of Ogotai ; a good opportunity was now offered of
putting them aside. At the Kuriltai, the general Ilchikidai reminded the
assemUy that they had promised never to elect a member of any other
house than that of Ogotai so long as a morsel of his flesh remained.
Khubilai, a son of Tului, replied that the wishes of Ogotai had already
been contravened. Had they not put to death Altalun (the favourite
daughter of Jingis) without trial, against the laws of Jingis, which forbade
the killing of any of the royal house until he or she had been tried in the
general assembly of the princes. Again, had they not raised Kuyuk to
the Khakanship, against the will of Ogotai, who had named Shiramim as
his successor.

The general Mangussar was the first who in the general assembly pro-
posed that Mangu, the eldest son of Tului, should be raised to the throne.
He spoke of his valiant deeds both in China and in the West imder Batu.
He was supported by Batu himself, and after the usual coy resistance
was elected. Batu offered him the cup, and the assembly greeted him as
Khan; the Kuriltai then adjourned till the spring following, when it was to
meet again in the ancient territory of Jingis Khan, where all the princes of
the house were to assemble to confirm the election. Meanwhile Ogul Gai-
mish, the widow of Kuyuk, and his two sons Khodja Ogul and Nagu were
to continue Regents. They spent the interregnum in disposing in advance
of the revenues of the empire, which was given up to anarchy. Khodja
and Nagu disavowed the act of their deputy Timur Noyan, and with
Yissu Manga, the son of Jagatai, who now ruled over his horde, refused
to attend the new Kuriltai or to surrender the rights of the house of
Ogotai. After vainly trying persuasion of different kinds, Batu at length
ordered his brother Bereke to proceed with the installation of Mangu, and
threatened those who disturbed the State with the loss of their heads.

There can be no doubt that this was a very arbitrary proceeding, and
that it involved a complete departure from Mongol traditions. The
princes had sworn to retain the chief Khanship in the family of Ogotai,
and if Kuyuk ustuped the throne which had been left to Shiramun by his
grandfather, that excuse could not cover the additional injustice of
excluding him from the throne now. It is not surprising that he and his

172 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

cousins, &c., should have objected to Mangu's pretensions, and should
have conspired against him. During the festivities that succeeded the
elevation of Mangu, a man entered the Imperial tent who said he had been
in search of a strayed mule and had met with a caravan of carts laden
with concealed arms. Having dexterously examined the drivers, he had
ascertained that they were on their way to the Kuriltai with the princes
Shiramun, Nagu, and Kutuku, of the house of Ogotai, who intended to
take advantage of the feast to displace Mangu and his supporters ; and
that he had come with great haste to warn them. Upon this a force was
sent out to meet the conspirators. When surrounded they pretended to
be coming to do homage, and on being conducted before Mangu offered
him nine presents, each consisting of nine articles, according to Mongol
custom, which especially regards the number nine. They were ordered
to dismiss their troops and were treated for some days with courtesy and
took part in the feast, but were then put under arrest. When brought
before Mangu himself for interrogation they stoutly denied the plot, but
a special commission was appointed to examine the whole affair. This
satisfied Mangu of their guilt. Hesitating about the punishment to be
awarded he consulted an old counsellor of the family, Mahmud Yelvaje,
who repeated to him the advice given by Aristotle to Alexander under
similar circumstances, when he took Alexander into the garden and tore
up the deeply rooted vigorous trees and let the saplings remain, namely,
to destroy the principal conspirators and spare the others.

Seventy of the chief conspirators were put to death, among them were
two sons of Ilchikidai, the governor of Persia. The father was arrested at
Badghis in Khorassan, and being conducted to Batu, was also put to death.
While the Imperial princes were generally put to death by being fastened
in felts and then roUed and trampled, the Noyans were choked by having
earth or stones forced into their mouths* The three princes were saved, we
are told, by the intercession of Siurkukteni, the mother of Mangu,
whose good offices had been secured by Katakush, the mother of
Shiramun.t

The following year, «>., in 1252, a Kuriltai was summoned at Kara-
korum for the trial of the .princes, &c. Mangu was especially irritated
against the dowagers Ogul Gaimish and Katakush, who refused to admit
his claims, and who were accused of doing him harm by their sorceries.
On being disrobed, the former reproached the judge Mangussar with
having unveiled a body which had never been seen except by a sovereign-
They were found guilty, fastened up in sacks of felt, and drowned.

Kadiak and Ghinkai, the principal councillors of Ogul Gaimish, were
put to death, and Buri, a grandson of Jagatai, was handed over to Batu,
who had a private grudge against him, and had him killed.} The
princes of the house of Ogotai were distributed in different parts of the

* Yon H'^na'ner's |lkbans, i. 6j. t Von Hammer's lUduiDS, i. 6z. I D'Obtson, ii. 269.

KAIDU KHAN. 173

empire. Khodja Ogul was given a yurt on the Selinga ; * Nagu and
Shiramim joined the army. The latter accompanied Khubilai in his
expedition to China, and was eventually killed there to satisfy the
jealousy of Mangu. Those members of Ogotai's family who had remained
faithful to Mangu, namely, Kadan, Melik, and the sons of Kutan, not only
retained their commands, but were each granted one of the Ordus and
a widow of Ogotai's.t During the remainder of Mangu's reign the family
of Ogotai seem to have acquiesced in his supremacy.

KAIDU KHAN.

The distribution of the empire of Jingis among his sons has not been
properly imderstood. Among nomadic races, territorial provinces are not
so well recognised as tribal ones. A potentate distributes his clans, and
not his acres, among his children. Each of these has of course its
camping ground, but the exact limits are not to be definitely measured.
We thus find in the legacy of power left by Jingis, which is given at
length by Erdmann in his Temudjin des Unerschutterliche, that nearly all
his relatives were remembered. Each of them has a certain number of
Mongols assigned to him. The same rule was probably applied to his
sons. Thus Juji, the eldest, received as his heritage the various tribes
that formed the old Turkish Khanate of Kipchak. Jagatai received the
various tribes of Karluks, &c., that formed the great empire of Kara Kitai.
To Tului, the yoimgest, the homechild, were left the tribes of Mongol
blood. While Ogotai, who was made Khakan or Grand Khan, had, besides
his superior power, a special authority over the tribes that formed the
powerful confederacy of the Naimans, and probably also of the ancestors
c^the modem Kalmuks. His Khanate was bounded on the south by the
long chain of mountains commencing near lake Balkash, and successively
called the Kabyrgan, Talki, Bogdo Oola, and Bokda Thian Shan ranges ;
having on its south the countries of Kayalic, Araalig, and Bishbalig,
which belonged to Jagatai; on the west it was conterminous with
that portion of the Khanate of Juji subject to Orda and his
descendants, and known as the White Horde ; on the east and north-east
it was probably bounded by the river Jabkan and the Kooke Sirke Ula
mountains ; on the north its boundary was uncertain, but probably
included the moimtains where the headwaters of the Irtish and the
Obi spring.

It thus included a large portion of Sungaria, or that portion of the
Chinese province of Hi known as Thian Shan Pelu, a land very little
known, of which the river Imil, the Black Irtish, the lakes Saisan, Kara
Noor, Kizil Bashi Noor, and the Ayar Noor, with their confluent

* Von Hammer, Ilklumt, i. 6a. t D'Ohison, ii. 270.

174 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Streams, form the chief water system. This was the special appanage of
Ogotai and his family, or rather, to be more strictly correct, the camping
ground of the various tribes that formed his uluss. These he held inde-
pendently of his Imperial authority, and they passed no doubt to his sons
and grandsons. I have said that after the arbitrary accession of Mangu
and the punishment of the refractory descendants of Ogotai, that there
was internal peace among the Mongols until that Khan's death.

On the death of Mangu, Khubilai was absent on an expedition in China,
and his brother Arik Buka, who was governor of Karakorum, thinking it
a good opportunity, raised the standard of revolt. He was joined by
several of the discontented and dispossessed princes of the house of
Ogotai, of whom Kaidu, the son of Kashi, the fifth son, was the most
conspicuous. I shall describe the struggle between the two brothers in
the next chapter, and merely say here that it ended by the suppression of
Arik Buka.

When he submitted in 1264, several of the princes of the blood refused
to recognise Khubilai, among whom Kaidu was conspicuous. He retired to
the country watered by the Imil, and began to assemble some troops.
D'Ohsson says that he was crafty and fertile in resources, and he gained
the friendship of the princes of the house of Juji, with whose assist-
ance he made himself master of the country about the Imil, the ancient
patrimony of Ogotai and Kuyuk. Summoned to the presence of
Khubilai he evaded the call, urging the usual Mongol pretext that his
horses were too thin to bear the journey. After three years of evasion,
and no doubt also of preparation, he felt himself strong enough to attack
Khubilai as a rival for the Over Khanship of the Mongol empire, which,
according to the will of Jingis and the oaths of his successors, was the
special heritage of his family.

In 1265 Borak was appointed Khan of Jagatai, by Khubilai, to make
head against Kaidu, but instead of this he made terms with him. The
families of Ogotai and Jagatai being very closely connected, and having
kept up the friendship which had existed between the stemfathers of their
races, the two Khans who headed these two hordes now made an
arrangement. Turkestan and Transoxiana were not attached to any of
the four great hordes, but were governed inunediately by an Imperial
deputy, and formed an appanage of the Khakanship. As such, Kaidu,
who claimed to be Khakan, exercised a special authority there. The
territory of Borak was rugged and barren, and in consideration probably
of his alliance he was permitted to have a joint occupation of the rich
pastures of Transoxiana. Kaidu encamped a force between him and
Bokharah, as a precaution against further usurpations. He was called
away to make head against Mangu Timur of the Golden Horde, who
had marched against him, and meanwhile Borak seized upon Bokharah.
Kaidu made peace with Mangu, and a battle ensued between him and
Borak on the Oxus, in which Kaidu was surprised in an ambuscade

KAIDU KHAN. 175

and beaten. Upon this Mangu Tumir supplied him with a contingent of
50,000 troops ; the battle was renewed, and Borak defeated. The latter
retired to Transoxiana, which he threatened to ravage, and made a
requisition upon Bokharah and Samarcand. At this stage he received
proposals of peace from Kaidu, through the intervention of Kipchak
Ogul, a grandson of Ogotai, and a common friend. Peace was established,
the two princes met, and held a grand fete in the spring of 1268 in the
open country of Talas and Kundjuk, east of the Jaxartes. In the
Kuriltai held here it was decided that Borak should hold two-thirds of
Transoxiana, while the remaining third should belong jointly to Kaidu
and Mangu Timur. It was decided that Borak should invade Khorassan,
and that meanwhile aU three princes should refrain from ravaging the
ruined territory of Transoxiana, should impose no taxes on the inhabi-
tants, and should pasture their flocks at a distance from the cultivated
ground. The peace was confirmed by rinsing gold in the cup in which
they drank their mutual vows.* The most important portion of the treaty
for Kaidu, however, was probably the confession it implied, that he was
rightful Khakan of the Mongols, and from this time on for many years
we find him and his son treated as their sovereign by the Khans of
Jagatai.

Abaka, the Ilkhan of Persia, acknowledged Khubilai as the rightful
Khakan, and naturally excited the wrath of Kaidu, who eagerly joined in
the plan of Borak for occupying Khorassan. He sent a large contingent
with that prince. The invasion and its disastrous end will come properly
in the history of the Khanate of Jagatai.

On his return home with the debris of his forces Borak was re-
proached for his want of skill by Kaidu, and excused himself by the
misconduct of some of the younger princes who had deserted him.
Borak was paralysed and had become a Muhammedan. He asked his
sovereign to assist him with troops in taking vengeance on the wrong-
doers. Kaidu went in person with two tumans, t,e., with 20,000 men,
and arrived at the camp of Borak, but before they could have an inter-
view the latter died. Mobarek Schah and the chief men of the horde
of Jagatai, upon this, took the oath of allegiance to Kaidu, who thus
became more than ever the superior Khan of the horde of Jagatai, and
controlled a most dangerously powerful force as the rival of Khubilai. He
appointed in rapid succession Nikbey, Toka Timur, and Dua to the
vacant throne of Jagatalt

Marco Polo enlarges in many chapters on the long struggle that took
place between Kaidu and Khubilai. Raschid tells us a desert of forty
days' extent divided the States of Khubilai from those of Kaidu and Dua ;
this frontier extended for thirty days from east to west. Along this line
were posted bodies of troops at intervals, under the orders of princes of

* D'Obapoo, iii. 428-431. t D'Ohtaon. H. 491.

176 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

the blood and generals. Five of these corps were encamped on the edge
of the desert ; a sixth in the territory of Tangut, near the Chagan Nur
(white lake), situated in lat. 45.45 and E. Ion. 96 ; a seventh in the vicinity
of Karakhodja, a city of the Uighurs, which lies between the two States
and maintains neutrality.* It may be concluded that Kaidu's authority
extended over Kashgar and Yarkand, and all the cities bordering the
south side of the Thian Shan, as far east as Karakhodja, as well as the
valley of the Talas river and all the country north of the Thian Shan, from
lake Balkash to the Chagan Nur, and in the further north between the
Upper Yesseini and the Irtish.f Marco says of Khoten, " lis sont au
grand Kaan."

Khubilai was too much afraid of the power of his rival, and the terrors
of his land, or too much engaged in organising his Chinese dominions, to
interfere much with Kaidu. Many battles were no doubt fought on the
frontier, but they were very indecisive. At length Kaidu commenced a
more active policy. In 1275, in alliance with Dua, he entered the country
of the Uighurs with 100,000 men and besieged the Idikut in his capital;
he wanted him to ally himself with him against Khubilai, but he refused,
and soon after receiving succour was able to resist the forces of Kaidu ; I
this succour seems to have been the army which was sent in that year by
Khubilai under the command of his son Numugan, with the general
Ngantimg or Antung, a descendant of Mukuli. With them also went
Gukdju, brother of Niunugan, Shireki, son of Mangu, Tuktimur, and
other princes. Numugan received the title of governor-general of the
country of Almalig, i.e., the very heart of the enemy's country. In 1277,
Tuktimur, discontented with Khubilai, proposed to Shireki, son of Mangu,
to place him on the throne ; to this the latter agreed, and in the
night the conspirators seized the Khakan's two sons and the general
Ngantung. The two princes they handed over to Mangu Timur of the
Golden Horde, and the general to Kaidu, whose party they joined with
Sarban, son of Jagatai, and other princes of that horde and that of
Ogotai.§ De Mailla, however, makes the princes fight a battle near
Almalig, in which the party of Kaidu was successful, and then march upon
Karakorum.|| Marco Polo describes this battle at some length. His
description is rather graphic of the Mongol system of tactics. He says
that the practice of the Tartars in going to battle is to take each a
bow and sixty arrows ; of these, thirty are light with small sharp points
for long shots and following up an enemy, while the other thirty are
heavy with broad heads, which they shoot at close quarters, and with
which they inflict great gashes on the face and arms, and cut the enem/s
bow strings and commit great havoc. This everyone is ordered to attend
to, and when they have shot away their arrows they take to their swords,

* Cathay and the Way Thither, 275. t Cathay and the Way Thither. 523. I Gaubil, x68.
^ Raichid in Pauthier'a Marco Polo, ii. 718. D'Ohsaon, ii. 453. | De Mailla, ix. 390.

kAlDU KHAN. ijf

and maces, and lances, which also they ply stoutly.* The threatening state
of things on the frontier induced Khubilai to withdraw Bayan, his most
trusted general, from China, to place him in command of the western
army. He found the enemy encamped on the banks of the Orgon, and
after some mancEUvring Shireki was beaten and driven towards the Irtish,
and Tuktimur among the Khirgises. Here he demanded assistance from
Shireki, which was not forthcoming. He thereupon quarrelled with him,
and set up Sarban, the son of Jagatai, as Khakan, so that there were now
four pretenders to the high dignity, Khubilai, Kaidu, Shireki, and Sarban.
Shireki was to weak to resist, and had to join the other princes in
announcing the election of Sarban as Khakan to Kaidu and to Mangu
Timur.

Tuktimur soon after met his end, he was trying to force Yubukur, the
eldest son of Arikbuka, to recognise his nominee Sarban. This he refused,
raised an army, attacked Tuk timur, who was deserted by his troops, and
given up to Shireki, by whom he was put to death. He was celebrated for
his bravery and his skill in archery. He rode a white horse, saying,
men generally chose coloured ones so that the enemy should not see the
blood from their wounds, but he thought that as women ornament them-
selves with red, so ought the blood of the horseman and his horse to
form the parure of a warrior. Sarban, Yubukur and Shireki had several
mutual struggles, in which they were alternately deserted by their soldiers.
At length Shireki was handed over to Khubilai, and was transported
to a desert island, where he died. De Mailla, Gaubil, and the
Chinese authorities cited by Pauthier make Shireki be killed after an
engagement with Bayan, by the latter's lieutenant Li ting. Sarban
submitted to the Khakan, and was by him granted both men and lands.
Yukubur also submitted to Khubilai, and Numugan was set at liberty.t

For ten years we hear of no decisive actions between the two great
rivals Kaidu and Khubilai. The former continued to grow in power,
and was undisputed master of the Khanates of Ogotai and Jagatai. He
at last succeeded in forming a veiy powerful league against Khubilai.
Among his allies the chief were Nayan, Singtur, and Kadan, whose
appanages were situated north of Liau Tung in Mandchuria.

Jingis Khan had divided Tartary into two sections, eastern and western,
the former was apparently partitioned among his brothers and uncles, and
was divided into twenty departments. Of these Utsukcn had nine, and
his territory was comprised between the rivers Liau, Torro, and Kueilai,
and also a part between Liautung and the river of Liau.J

I have mentioned how at the accession of Kuyuk, Utsuken raised some
pretensions to the crown and was apparently overawed by the strength of
the opposition. He was succeeded by his son Jintu, he by his son

* Ynle'i Marco Polo, 390. t D'Ohsson, ii. 455.

; Ganbil, ao6* De Mailla, ix. 431.

!78 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Tagajar, Tagajar by his son Agul, and he by his son Nayan, who, we are
told, had greatly enlarged his heritage, and had gained great influence in
Tartary. Those departments of Eastern Tartary which were not
controlled by him were ruled over by the chiefs of the Tchalar (Jelair),
Hongkila (Kunkurats), Mangon (Manguts), Goulou (?), and \Tdliasse
(Kurulas).

Singtur was descended from Juji Kassar, and Eadan from Kadshiun,
brothers of Jingis Khan. Nayan collected 40,000 men, with whom he
awaited the arrival of Eaidu. He was to have joined him with 100,000,
but Rhubilai ordered Bayan to repair to Earakorum to hold Eaidu in
check, while he himself marched against Nayan. He ordered a fleet of
transports to sail from Eiang Nan for the river Liau with provisions.
His army was divided into two divisions, 'one composed of Chinese imder
the order of the Niutchi general Li Ting ; the other of Mongols tmder
Yissu Timur, grandson of Bogordshi, the chief of the nine Orloks. He
found the army of Nayan encamped on the river Liau and protected by
a line of chariots. Having consulted his astrologers, who promised him
a signal victory, he advanced rapidly and quite took Nayan by surprise.
Marco Polo has a g^phic account of the battle, from which, and from
D'Ohsson's account, I shall quote. The aged Ehakan was mounted on a
great wooden bartizan, which was borne by four well-trained elephants,
with leather harness and housings of cloth of gold. Over this tower,
which was guarded by archers and crossbowmen, floated the Imperial
standard representing the sun and moon. His troops were ordered in
three divisions of 30,000 men each, and the greater part of the horsemen
had each a footsoldier armed with a lance set on the crupper behind him,
the whole plain seems to be covered with his forces. When all were
in battle array on both sides, then arose the sound of many instruments
of various music, and the voices of the whole of the two hosts loudly
singing, and playing on a certain two-stringed instrument in the Mongol
fashion, and so they continued until the great naccara of Ehubilai
sounded, then that of Nayan sounded, when the fight began on both sides.
The naccara was a great kettledrum formed like a brazen cauldron, tapering
to the bottom, covered with buffalo hide, often three and a half or four feet
in diameter.* It is said that Nayan was a Christian, and that he bore the
emblem of the cross on his standards. After a severe struggle he was
completely defeated and taken prisoner. Ehubilai ordered him to be
sewn up in felt and to be beaten to pieces, the usual way of putting royal
prisoners to death, so that none of their blood should be spilt. The
defeat of Nayan caused great jeering among the Jews and Muhammedans,
who cast jibes at the Christians for fighting under such an emblem.

The defeat of Nayan did not conclude the strife in the further
East. The princes Eadan and Singtur (De Mailla says Hadan

* See Yule'a Marco Polo, i. 303*

KAIDU KHAN. 1 79

and Huluhosaiii and Gaubil, Hatan, Tieko, Arlu, and Tulukan)
continued the struggle for some time. They encamped on the river
Liau, and threatened Liautung. Bayan received orders to watch Eaidu,
and to prevent him joining his forces to those of the confederates.
Against the latter Ehubilai sent his grandson Timur, with the generals
Yissu timur, Tutuha, Li ting, and Polohoan.* The confederates were
attacked on the river Kueliei, and after a fierce battle, which lasted
for two days, were utterly routed. A great number of chiefs and officers
among the confederates perished. Timur was much praised by his
grandfiaaher, and by his affability gained the good opinion of the various
tribes encamped on the rivers Liau, Toro, Kucliei, &c.t This battle
was fought in 1288. The eastern confederates of Kaidu were thus
dispersed.

Let us now turn to his own doings. Khubilai had recalled his best
general, Bayan, from China, and ordered him to take command at Kara-
korum to oppose his great rival, but before he could arrive therei
Kanmala, the son of Ehubilai, who commanded the Imperial forces on the
western frontier, was defeated by fi^aidu, near the Selinga. The young
prince was ahnost captured, and was only rescued by the bravery of
Tutuka, a general of Kipchak descent, who had gained great renown at
this time.| It is quite clear that Eaidu gained a substantial advantage oh
this occasioni and Ehubilai, notwithstanding his great age, thought it
necessary to go to the frontier in person. He set out from Changtii, and
we are told that Tutuka was the first general who had the honour of com*
manding under the £mperor.§ There was no battle however, for Eaidu
had meanwhile retired.

Ehubilai died in 1294, and was succeeded by his grandson Timur.
During the last years of the former's reign we hear of no engagement on
the frontier, although the strife apparently continued, for we are told
that Eaidu had occupied the coimtry of Parin,|| i.e,, the camping ground
of the Mongol tribe pf Barin in South-Eastem Mongolia. The Imperial
general Chohangur, son of Tutuka, marched against him, and found
him encamped on the river Taluhu;^ his camp was defended by
stockades of wood, behind which his troops were dismounted and
on their knees, with their bows drawn ready to fire a volley. Not-
withstanding this, Chohangur charged with such vigour that he captured
the camp and drove the enemy out, and captured or killed most of them ;
he then retired, and encamped on the river Alei.** This advantage was
balanced by a decided victory gained by Dua; as I have said, the
western frontier was protected by a cordon of troops posted at intervals
who might support one another. Taking advantage of the fact that
three of these post commanders had met together at a feast and got

* Ganbal, 209. t Gaubil, 209. I De MailU, iz. 441. Gaubil, aix.

^OmvbUiUi. lDelfAiUf.iz.469* V De MaiUa, iz. 469- •* De MaiUar ix* 470*

l82 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

deserted by the greater part of his army, and had to escape with 300
horsemen to the territory of his enemy Dua. The latter received him
with honour, but he also accepted the homage of his chief vassals, and
appropriated the greater part of his territory.

Dua died directly after, in 1 306, and was succeeded after an inter\'al
(i>., in 1308-9) by his son Guebek ; he was hardly installed before he
was attacked by Chapar, in concert with the other princes of the house
of Ogotai, who no doubt deemed this a good opportunity for regaining
their lost power. Chapar was beaten in several fights, and forced to
escape beyond the Hi, and into the territory of the Khakan Timur. This
victory finally broke the hopes of the house of Ogotai.* During the
reign of his successor, Kuluk Khan, Chapar and other Mongol princes
repaired to the Chinese court, where they did homage : t thus sur-
rendering effectually the claims of Ogotai and his descendants to the
supreme Khanship of the Mongols. With this notice apparently ends
the material we possess for the history of the house of Ogotai. Its wide
domains were appropriated by the Khans of Jagatai, while the clans who
obeyed it were scattered, the greater part became the subjects of the
same Khans ; others joined the horde of Kipchak, and became
renowned in after times as the main strength of the confederacy of the
Uzbegs.

The family of Ogotai was however by no means extinct, but became
only unimportant and obscure, and it is a curious fact that when the great
Timur lenk had conquered the greater part of Central and Southern
Asia, and he hke other great conquerors wished to preserve a decent
show of humility, that instead of entirely displacing the Khans of Jagatai,
whose servant he had been, he retained the title and office of Khan as a
mere puppet, a roi faineant , while he himself like the Merovingian
mayors of the palace had all the authority. It is more curious to find
that he displaced the family of Jagatai from the position, and put on the
titular throne a descendant of Ogatai's named Siurghatmich, who was
apparently succeeded by his son and grandson,^ thus restoring once more
to the family of Ogotai, in name at least, the honours that had been so
long appropriated by others.

Note I.— Karakorum.— The position of the capital of Ogotai has
recently been a good deal discussed. It must be remembered that
Ogotai did not found the city. It was there long before his day. It had
been the capital of the old Uighur empire before it was destroyed by the
Hakas and before the Uighurs migrated to Bishbalig, and we are expressly
told that Ogotai found ancient ruins there when he began to build, among
which was an inscription stating that there had stood the palace of Buku,

• D*OhBMn« ii. 52Z* t D*Ohuon, ii. 533* I Enkint 'f History of India, i. 68 and 340*

chapAR. 183

Khan of the Uighurs in the eighth century.* I myself believe that the Hakas
who overthrew the Uighur empire were the ancestors of the Naimans,
and that at the accession of Jingis, Karakorum was within the Naiman
territory and probably one of their chief places. Since I wrote this chapter
and quite recently some light has been thrown on the very crooked question
by the Russian traveller Paderin, whose account has been analysed by
Colonel Yule. He tells us that besides the authorities used by Remusat
and by Ritter, Paderin also used the itinerary of a Chinese named
Chang Chun, who in 1222 travelled from North China to Tokharistan,
passing by Karakorum ; and that of another Chinese traveller named
Chjan de KhoL They afford some important data. Among these are the
following : i, Karakorum was more than 100 li to the south-west of the
lake Ugei Nor, this being a lake of clear water about 70 li in circuit ;
2, that it stood in a valley which had a circumference of 100 li, surrounded
by hills, and having the river Khorin running through it ; 3, that in going
from it to the river Tamir, the traveller passes a hill called Horse's Head
(in Chinese, Ma-tu; in Mongol, Morintologoi), and another called Red-ear
(in Chinese, Khun-er ; in Mongol, Ulan Chihi) ; 4, that north of it there
was a palace near a lake called Tsagan Gegen. During his stay at Urga,
M. Paderin had ascertained that the names Kara Balghassun, Ugei Nor,
Morintologoi, Ulan Chihi, and Tamir were all yet extant.

The nth of March brought the traveller to the Ugei-Nor. This lake,
about eight miles from east to west, and a little less from north to south,
lies towards the north side of a wide valley enclosed by low hills. The
valley is called Toglokho Tologoi ; it is some forty-five to fifty-five miles
in length from east to west, and twenty-five to thirty-five miles in breadth.
The Orkhon River, fordable stirrup-deep, traverses the valley, and the lake
discharges into it by a stream called Narin. The ground near the river is
swampy, and west of it there is a series of saline lakes called Tsagan-
Nor (White Lakes). Some willows and poplars grow on the banks of the
river.

The hills forming the western boundary of the valley are called Ulintu,
Obotu, and Ulan Khoshu. On the south and south-east are the
Khadamtu Hills, sprinkled with clumps of trees having leaves like pines.
The hills on the east and north are insignificant, only one having a name,
viz., Khityin-Khada, " Monastery Hill." This is so called from a kurm
or fortified enclosure at the north-west end of the lake Ugei-Nor con-
taining a Buddhist temple, the residence of the Khutuktu Orombyin
Gegen. This littte kuren is of remarkable construction, and looks as if it
might have been the palace of a Khan in days of yore. The basement of
the temple, both in materials and in style, resembles the ruins near the
river Karukha.

M. Paderin diverged from the post track at Ugei-Nor station to visit

•D*Ohsion,U.64*

1^4 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

the ruins of Kara Kharam or Kara Balghassun (for ir is known by both
names), and rejoined the track at the next station westward, called Ulan-
Khoshu.

Four hours' smart riding, estimated at thirty-five to forty miles, brought
him to the ruins, lying in the same valley,* and some four or five miles
from the west bank of the Orkhon, with a fine grassy plain intervening*
which, in places, rises into frequent hillocks. The remains consist of a
rampart enclosing a quadrangular area of about 500 paces to the side,
and still retaining traces of indented battlements. The rampart is of
mud, and in some places apparently of sun-dried brick. Inside the area,
on the eastern side, is a tower or mound rising above the wall; the
general height of the latter being about nine feet. There are traces of a
small inner rampart running parallel to the north and south sides of the
square, Besides these there were to be seen no monuments or relics of
antiquity.

Mongol traditions, M. Paderin observes, rarely preserve any memory
of ancient times. They do not in general go beyond a vague statement
that such a spot contains the bones or the treasure of Cesser, Khan (as is
commonly said of the tumuU scattered over the southern Kalkha country);
or that such another is the relic of a fine monastery, or of the palace of
Jingis Khan. Of this place, the Mongols, with M. Paderin, could
only say that it was very old, and that probably Jingis Khan had lived
there ; but one sharp Lama came forward saying it was the city of Togon
Temur Khan. Now it is a fact (already alluded to) that at least the son
of this last of the Jingizide Emperors did, shortly after their expulsion
from Cambaluc, establish himself at Karakorum.

But the dimensions, distances, geographical position, and aspect
correspond with the old data. Thus, the place does lie southward of the
Ugei-Norfrom 100 to i2oli;t the traveller leaving it for the westward
does cross a river (indeed two rivers) called Tamir, and on his wa:y to that
river does pass hills called Horse's Head and Red Ear. It answers all
the looser conditions collected by Abel Remusat (see Ocean Highways
for July, 1873, P* ^70); the most definite tradition met with by M.
Paderin connected it with Togon-Temur Khan ; and the place is still
known as Kara Balghassun (Black Town) and Kara Kharamt (Black
Rampart), both which seem to involve memories of the ancient and
proper name.

* The origioal translation layt " nearly in the loath-east end of the valley.** This is a little
difficult to reconcile with the other indications, including the Chinese notices and the Jesuit
map. But in another passage also the traveller says he rode from Ugei-Nor to the ruins
nearly south-south-east, so I have tried to accommodate the sketch map to this. Yule, op. cit.
Note.

t The Chinese traveller quoted by Mr. Paderin says south-west indeed, whilst he says south*
south-east, as we have already noted.

I The transcription from the Russian is Kherem. But I presume that, as often in French
spelling, the e here represents the neutral vowel— the short a in America.

CHAPAR. 185

M. Padcrin supposes the old name Karakorum to have been merely a
corruption of Kara Kharam, with the meaning just given.* But the
Archimandrite Palladius, probably the best authority, in a short appended
note, does not assent to this, observing that in the transcription of the
Mongol text of the biography of Ogotai Khan the name of the city is
rendered Khara Khorum,t whilst the Chinese authors of the Mongol
period are unanimous that the chief ordu of the Mongol Khans got its
name from the nearest river.J On the other hand, Kara Kharam, or
Black Rampart, is evidently applicable, in that form, only to the deserted
site.§

I have taken the liberty of extracting this account ahnost verbatim
from Colonel Yule's graphic narrative. I would remark, that the doubts
he throws out in one of the notes about the existence of a range of
motmtains called Karakorum, in the neighbourhood of the Mongol
capital, are hardly justified.

Alai ud din says, "the Uighurs believe that their nation inhabited,
originally, the banks of the river Orkon, which rises in the mountains
called Karakorum, whose name has been given to the town recently
founded by the Khan (Ogotai). . . . These are in the Karakorum
mountains. There is an ancient ditch, said to be the ditch of Pijen, and
on the banks of the Orkon are the vestiges of a town and palace
formerly called Ordu Balik (t>., the Town of the Ordu), and now Mau balik
(/>., Bad Town, or Ruined Town).**!! Alai ud din died in 1284, and this
last phrase makes it clear that the city of Ogotai had already become
ruinous.

Again, Raschid says that in the Uighur country there are two chains
of mountains, one called Bucratu Turluk, the other Uskun-luk-tangrim
between which are the mountains Karakorum, whose name was given to
the town which Ogotai Khan built, and near these mountains is another
called Kut-tag.t

Again, Klaproth, in his criticism of Schmidt's views about the Uighurs,
gives an extract from the Su chung kian lu, from which I take this
sentence, "Iduchu is the title of the ruler of the Kao tchang, who
formerly lived in the land of Uighur. Here are found the mountains
Chorin ; two rivers flow from them called the Tuchula (Tula) and Sieling
ga(Selinga)."**

* A timiUr aagfettion ia made by Mr. Ney Elias, J.R.G.S., zliii. 122.

t As in the Weatern Aauitic writera, «.g., Raabiduddin and Ibn Batuta^

X See Ocean Highways, aa quoted above. My remarka there are thus corroborated. But I
hare found a paaaage which may be the origin of Mr. Grant and Sir H. Rawlinaon's association
of the name of Karakorum with mountains. D'Ohason cites from Rashiduddin a passage
which speaks of "the great AlUi and the Karakorum MounUins." And M. d'Ave^ac, just
after quoting this, assumes that the town was called so from being at the foot of the Karakorum
Mountains. (R6c. de Voyages. &c., iv. 5x8, 519.)

S Colonel Yule, Geographical Magazine, i. 138. | D'Ohsson i. 430. IT D'Ohsaon, i. 436.

** Klaproth Beleuchtung und widerlegung der Forachungen uefaer die Geschichte der Mittel
Asiatischeo Volksr d^ If erren Schmidt. Paris, 1824. Page 48.

IA

i86

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

These extracts seem to show that the Eentd Khan chain was other-
wise known as Earakonimi and that it was probably from it that the
capital city of the Uighurs and of Ogotai was named.

Note 2.— The following short table will clear up somewhat the relation-
ship of the several Mongol princes mentioned in this chapter.

Jingit Khan
I

jDJi

JagaUi

Kayak Khan

Katan

Ogotai Khan

I

roloi

Kalken

hodliaOgol

Naga. or
Bagha

Kutchn
Shinunun

Karadjar Kaahi Kadan Ogal
Kaidn Khan Kipchak Ognl
Chapar Khan

felik

CHAPTER V.

MANGU AND KHUBILAI.

MANGU KHAN.

IN the previous chapter I have described the circumstances which
led to the choice of Manj^ as the successor of Euyuk. It seems
strange, that with the well known loyalty of the Mongols, no
rebellion should have broken out among the tribes in favour of the
dispossessed princes. It was probably prevented partially by the
renown Mangu had ah-eady gained in his various wars, by the high
character of his mother, and by the further fact, that nearly all the
Mongol army proper was the heritage of Tului, and that he could
therefore rely on its feudal attachment to himself, as Tului's eldest
son. I have described how Mangu was chosen. His inauguration
took place on a day marked as a propitious one by the astrologers.
The day fixed was the ist of July, 12 51, and while the princes cast
their sashes over their shoulders and bent the knee nine times, their
example was followed by 10,000 warriors outside. Mangu ordered that
this day all should forget their quarrels, should leave their work, and give
themselves up entirely to pleasure. The general holiday was to extend
to the rest of the world as well as to men ; horses were not to be ridden,
nor cattle worked ; animals were not to be killed for food ; there should
be no hunting nor fishing ; no disturbing of the earth, nor troubling the
calm and purity of the water.

This was followed by a feast, which lasted for seven days, during which
the guests each day wore a differently coloured costume. Each day 300
horses and cattle, 5,000 sheep, and a,ooo cartloads of wide and kumis
were consumed.

Mangu now appointed his chief officers: Mangussar was made chief
judge ; Bolgai, a Nestorian Christian, was made chancellor, and given
chaige of the finances and of the department of home affairs. The
chancellary was divided into many departments, with Persian, Uighur,
Chinese, Tibetan, Tangutan, and other secretaries charged with the
correspondence. Eunkur, son of Juji Kassar, was made governor of
EaaakanmL Mangu's brother Khubilai was made lieutenant-general

l88 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

in the country south of the desert. Chagan commanded the troops on
the frontiers of the Sung empire ; Dandar in Suchuan and Khortai
in Tibet. A Buddhist named Khai-yuan was given charge of the
Buddhist affairs in China, and one Tao-li-cheng of those of the Taotse
sect. The Tibetan lama Namo was made chief of the Buddhist faith in
the empire, and given the title of Hoshi, or Institutor of the monarch.
Mahmud Yelvaje was made administrator of the Mongol possessions
in China, and his son Massud, who had restored the prosperity of
Transoxiana, was confirmed in his government. Argun was also con-
firmed in his vast authority. The latter made a fresh report on the
miserable condition of his province, induced by exorbitant taxes. The
state to which Persia was reduced may be gathered from the fact that
while in China and Transoxiana the poorest could afford to pay a gold
piece annually, and the richest fifteen ; in Persia, the minimum had to be
reduced to one dinar and the maximum to seven. Mangu confirmed the
law of Jingis and Ogotai, which exempted the priests and monks of the
Christians, Muhammedans, and idolators, as well as the old and the very
poor. D'Ohsson says that the rabbis were not included in the exemption,
to the great mortification of the Jews.* He also restricted the powers of
the minor governors to exact taxes, and withdrew the many illegal
warrants for their collection that had been issued since the death of
Jingis. The extravagance of Kuyuk had left the empire largely indebted
to the merchants who flocked to the Mongol court. Mangu ordered this
debt to be paid, and it amoimted to 500,000 silver balishs.

In February, 1252, Mangu lost his mother, to whom he had given the
title of Empress. She was a Christian, but very tolerant, and had given
a thousand golden balishs to found a Muhammedan college at Bokharah,
where 1,000 students were taught, and had endowed it handsomely. She
had been very much respected by the Mongols, especially by Ogotai*
She lived with her fourth son Arikbuka, near the Altai, and on her death
was buried near her husband and Jingis Khan. Mangu had raised his
father Tului to the rank of Emperor, and given him a title in the
temple of his ancestors.

About this time the Idikut of the Uighurs, who was a Buddhist, was
falsely charged by a slave with the intention of killing all the Mussulmans
at Bish Balig and in Uighuria. He was summoned before Mangu, and
under the influence of torture said he was guilty ; he was sent back to
Bish Balig, and there beheaded by his own brother in the presence of an
immense crowd, and to the great satisfaction of the Mussulmans. Two
of his principal officers were also put to death ; a third escaped death by
the clemency of Mangu, but his wives and children and all his goods
were seized by the exchequer, and he himself sent on a mission to Egypt.
It was the Mongol custom, when a criminal's life was spared, either to

* D'Ohtson, u, a65.

MANGU KHAN. 1 89

send him to the army, where his life might be made useful, or on a
mission dangerous in itself, or to some insalubrious country. Okenje,
the brother of the executed prince, who had also been his executioner,
was appointed to succeed him.

On his arrival in China, Khubilai began to search out and try and cure
the abuses that had everywhere sprung up. He had recourse to a
learned Chinaman named Yao-chu, who composed for him a moral and
political treatise in which the duties and obligations of princes, and the
abuses that prevailed in the country, were set out. He became the
constant adviser of Khubilai.

Since the days of Ogotai, the Mongols encamped on the frontier of the
Sung empire had made no fresh conquests, but had made many invasions
into Suchuan, Hukuang, and Kiangnan for the sake of pillage, in which
they had taken several towns, and having sacked them retired with their
booty. In this way they had caused great ravage, and the provinces on
the border of the two empires were marked by deserted towns and
uncultivated fields. Khubilai made his soldiers cultivate these provinces,
supplying them with cattle and ploughs.

In 1252 Khubilai received Honan and the province of Kung-chang-fii
in Shensi as an appanage, with orders to march upon Yunnan ; another
general was assigned a campaign in Corea. The same year Mangu made
a solenm sacrifice to the sky on the sunmiit of a mountain, after receiving
instruction from the Chinese in the ceremonies used on such occasions.
Early the next year he published a general amnesty, and at a Euriltai
assemUed at the sources of the Onon it was decided to send an army
into Persia under the orders of Khulagu, the brother of Mangu. At the
same time a body of troops was sent to the frontiers of India. The
Mongols had two years before taken and sacked Lahore, and some time
after made an incursion into Scinde.

At the end of 1253 the friar William of Ruysbrok (otherwise known
as Rubruquis) and his companions arrived at the court of Mangu. I
will transcribe his account where he adds to what I have previously taken
from Carpino's narrative. The tent where the Ehakan sat was hung
with golden tissues and warmed by a chafing dish, in which were burnt
the thorns and roots of wormwood, the fire being made of dried dung.
The Khakan was seated on a small couch, robed in a rich fur dress, which
shone like the skin of a sea calf. He was of middle stature, with a some-
what flat turned up nose, and was about forty-five years old. His wife,
who was young and good-looking, was seated by him with one of her
daughters called Cyrina. Several children were on another couch close
by. The Khakan asked the friars what they would drink, wine or terasine
(made of rice), or kumis, or ball (hydromel) ; they replied they would
drink whatever the Khakan pleased He gave them some terasine, of
which they drank a little to please him ; their interpreter, they naively
complaint drank too much, got drunk, and fozgot himself. The Khakan

190 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

next had his falcons brought out, and placed them on his fist, admiring
them for some time ; he then ordered the friars to speak. Their address
was full of well-worded flattery, itUer alia^ they said that according to
the statutes of their order they were bound to tell men how they ought to
live according to the laws of God ; that they had come to ask permission
to settle in his territory in furtherance of their duty, and to pray for
himself, his wives, and children. If he did not wish them to settle,
they b^|[ged that he would at least allow them to stay until they had
recruited from the effects of their long journey. After a while the inter-
preter got too drunk to be intelligible, and the friars suspected that
Mangu himself was rather maudlin. He proved, however, very gracious,
gave them liberty to stay two months, and to go to Karakorum if they
chose.

Rubruquis noticed that Mangu and his family took part indiscrimi-
nately in the services of the Christians, the Muhammedans, and Buddhists,
to make sure of the blessings pronused by each religion. The Chris-
tianity was that of the Nestorians, and to what depdis this form of religion
had sunk may be collected from some very graphic anecdotes related by
our traveller. On one feast day Mangu's chief wife with her children
entered the Nestorian chapel, kissed the right hand of the saints, and
then gave her right hand to be kissed, according to the fashion of the
Nestorians. Mangu was also present, and with his spouse sat down on
a gilt throne before the altar, and made Rubruquis and his companion
sing ; they chanted the Veni sancti spiritus. The Emperor soon after
retired, but his wife stayed behind and gave presents to the Christians.
Terasine, wine, and kumis were then brought in ; she took a cup, knelt
down, demanded a blessing, and while she drank the priests chanted ;
they then drank until they were drunk. Thus they passed the day, and
towards evening the Empress was drunk like the rest. She went home
in a carriage escorted by the priests, who continued chanting and
howling.

On another occasion Rubruquis with the Nestorian priests and an
Armenian monk went in procession to Mangu's palace ; as they went in
a servant was bringing out some of the smoked shoulder blades of sheep,
used in divination by the Shamans ; they carried in a censor, with
which they censed the Emperor, and then blest his cup, after which all
drank. The other members of the family were successively visited. The
Nestorian notion of Christian worship was to place a cross on a piece of
new silk on an elevated place, and then to prostrate before it.

The three sects before mentioned were always prosdytising, and their
great ambition was to win over the Khakan, but he was neutral and
urged toleration on alL He one day told Rubruquis that everybody at
his court worshipped the same God, the one and eternal, and they oug^
to be allowed to adore him in their own wsly, and that by distribotiDg his
&toilx8 among men of all sects he showed that all were acceptable to

MANOU KHAN. I9X

him. The historian Alai-nd-din would persuade us he diiefly favoured
Mnhammedans, while Haithon and Stephen Orphelian insist that he
favoured the Christians the most.

But all three religions, Christian, Muhammedan, and Buddhist, were
only hixuries indulged in by the court ; the Mongol nation continued to
practise Shamanism, which remained the State religion. Rubruquis
mentions that the chief of the Shaman priests lived at a stone's throw
from the Emperor's palace, and had charge of the carriages which carried
the idols.

These Shamans practised astrology and foretold eclipses, they pointed
out propitious and unpropitious days. They purified with fire everything
destined for the use of the court as well as the presents offered to the
Khakan, of which they had a certain portion. They were simimoned to
births to draw horoscopes, and to sick beds to cure diseases. If they
wished to ruin anyone they had only to accuse him of causing any mis-
fortune that should happen. They summoned demons, while they beat
their drums and excited themselves imtil they got into a state of ecstasy.
They pretended to receive from their familiars answers, which they pro-
claimed as oracles.*

At Easter, Rubruquis followed the Khakan to Karakorum, which seemed
to him less than St. Denis in France, whose monastery he tells us was ten
tunes as large as the palace of Mangu. In Karakorum were two prin-
cipal streets: in one, styled of the Muhammedans, fairs and markets were
held ; the other, styled of the Chinese, was occupied by artisans. The city
contained several public buildings, twelve pagan temples of different rites,
two mosques, and a church. It had an earthen rampart pierced by four
gates ; near the gates were held markets ; at the eastern one, millet and
other kinds of grain were sold ; at the western, sheep ; at the northern,
horses ; and at the southern, oxen and carts. The palace, surrounded by
a brick wall, stretched north and south. Its southern side had three
doors. Its central hall was like a church, and consisted of a nave and
two aisles, separated by columns. Here the court sat on great occasions.
In front of the throne was placed a silver tree, having at its base four
sihrer lions, from whose mouths there spouted into four silver basins
winei kumis, hydromel, and terasine. At the top of the tree a silver
angd sounded a tnmipet when the reservoirs that supplied the four
fountains wanted replenishing. This curious piece of silversmith's work
of the thirteenth century, Rubruquis tells us, was made by a Parisian
silversmitb called William Boucher, who had been captured at Belgrade
in Hungary; 3,000 marks of silver were spent in making it. Beside this
silversmith^ Rubruquis met many Christian Hungarians, Alans, Russians,
Georgians, and Armenians at Karakorum. After a stay of five months
he prepared to return, bearing with him the Khakan's answer to the

* lyOhnon, ii. 302.

192 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

letter of Louis the Ninth, which was couched in moderate tcnns, but
ended up as usual by bidding him put no trust in the remoteness or
strength of his country, but to submit.

The friars were seventy days in reaching the court of Batu. Travelling
along the public way and bearing the Khakan's letters they were
furnished both with conveyances and food gratis, but the road was
a deserted one; Rubruquis tells us he did not see a single village on
the way where bread might be bought, and fcr two . or three days
lived on kumis alone. He at length recrossed the Caucasus, and reached
his monastery at Acre, whence he sent an account of his voyage to
Louis.

About the same time Mangu received a visit from Haithon, the King
of Little Armenia, which comprised Cilicia, Comag^ne, and several towns
of Cappadocia and Isauria. He also travelled by way of the Caucasus,
calling upon Batu and his son Sertak on the way. He was well received,
and by his persuasion the Mongol exactions in the two Armenias were
restrained.

We may now turn our attention once more to Persia.

On the death of Kuyuk fresh anarchy had ensued ; warrants for
exemption and collection of taxes were again indiscriminately granted.
In 1250 Argun, with the chief functionaries of Persia, repaired to the
Kuriltai, where Mangu was elected Khakan. He reported the confusion
that was caused by the malpractices just named. The Khakan required
that the governors of each province should report on its condition. They
allagreed that extortionate taxation was the cause of their ruin, and that
it would be well to introduce a capitation tax, graduated to the wealth of
the inhabitants, like there was in Transoxiana. This was decided
upon, the lowest limit being one dinar, and the highest ten. The
proceeds of the taxes were to pay the soldiers and to organise the
system of posting on the public roads, so carefully looked after by the
Mongols.

Argun was again confirmed in the government of Persia, and received
a new diploma, marked with a lion's head. Persia was divided into four
provinces, each imder a Melik, who all had separate diplomas, as had also
the lesser functionaries. Each one received from the Khakan robes of
Chinese silk.

The Melik Chems-ud-din Mohammed, Prince of Gur, and connected
with many of the old princely families of Persia, was assigned the govern-
ment of Eastern Persia. He was present at the election of Mangu, and
was received by him with great ceremony. He gave him the government
of the country of Herat and its dependencies, which extended from the
Oxus to the Indus, and comprised the provinces of Meru, Cabul, and
Afghanistan. Beside a robe of state and three paize. or diplomas, he
gave him 10,000 dinars, an Indian sabre, a lance of Alkhatt (a district
of Yemama or Bahrein, where the lance poles are made which come

MANGU KHAN. 193

from India), a mace with the head of a bull on its summit, a battle-axe,
and a dagger.*

At the great Kuriltai held in 1252, at the accession of Mangu, it was
determined to send an expedition into the West, under the command of
Mangu's brother Khulagu, to punish the Ismailites, &c. Each of the
princes of the blood was ordered to furnish one man in ten out of his army
to form an army for Khulagu, each contingent being commanded by the
near relations of the prince who furnished it ; a tugan or 100 mens of flour
and an utre or fifty mens of wine were provided for each man. Besides
these there were 1,000 engineers to work the war machines. Kitubuka was
sent on with an advance guard of 12,000 men in the autumn of 1252 towards
Kuhistan. Khulagu himself set out in February, 1254. Leaving Kara-
korum he marched for seven days over the snowy range of Khanggai to
the river Hoen Muren, on which he proceeded in boats to the Arungu,
which falls into lake Kizilbash ; then by larch-covered mountains to a
town called Pfuhle in the Chinese narrative of the expedition, " near which
is a mountain where the wind blows so hard that travellers are sometimes
blown into the lake ;" then through a narrow pass to Almalig, where he
was feted by the princes of the house of Jagatai, and especially by
Organa, the widow of Kara Hulagu. On his arrival in Turkestan he was
similarly feted by its governor, Massud, the son of Yelvaje. Having
sununered his horses, he encamped in the beautiful district of Kianigul,
!>., the Mine of Roses, near Samarkand, t where he spent forty days, and
feasted in a magnificent tent built up of gold and silken tissue, where he
gave himself up to drinking and dissipation. The feast was somewhat
marred by the death of Suntai, his brother. { Khulagu was com-
missioned by the Khakan to exterminate the Imailyens or Assassins, and
then to pass on to subject the Khalif. Having arrived at Kesh, the
patrimony of the ancestors of Timurlenk, he received the submission
of Argun, the governor of Khorassan, and of the various grandees
and nobles, and issued a summons to the sovereigns of Western Asia.
" We have come," he said, " to destroy the Molahids, /.^., the heretics. {
If you come in person with your troops you will save your country and
family, and you shall be rewarded. If you hesitate, I will, with the help
of God, after I have destroyed this people, return and treat you in the same
way." After crossing the Oxus he organised a lion hunt, and as the
horses were terrified with this new game, he mounted his hunters on
camels. Ten lions were killed.

The Ismailites or Assassins were a particular sect of that division of
the Shia Muhammedans known as Ghilats. They were distinguished
mainly by a secret cultus, a peculiar hierarchy, and an implicit obedience
to the Imam. This most implicit obedience was aggravated by the

* D*0hM0n, iii. 131.
t Von Hammer*! UUmju, i. 88. I Von Hammer*! Ilkhaiw, i. 88. f D'Ohsioo, iii. 239.
IB

194 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

system of assassination which they organised, and which became the
terror of Western Asia ; the chief officers and more prominent men of its
vanous courts weanng coats of mail under their clothes as a precaution,
and still suffering decimation. The long struggle and intercourse they
had with the Khuarezm Shahs is detailed by D'Ohsson, but it forms no
part of our present subject.*

Leaving the Oxus, Khulagu advanced to Sheburghan, south-west of
Balkh, a fruitful district famed for its water melons. There he spent the
winter, and held another reception in another sumptuous tent, presented
to him by Argun.t

Kitubuka had been sent on, as I have said, with an army of 1 5,000,
and had invaded Kuhistan, the chief seat of the Assassins. There he
had laid siege to Girdkjuh (i.e.^ the Round Mountain), a fortress situated
in the district of Kumus, three parasangs from Damgh^an.^ He in-
vested it after a new fashion ; having made a ditch and rampart round
it, he placed his army behind it, and behind this again another ditch and
rampart, so that he had a protection both in front and rear. He
apparently made this camp his base, and sent out columns to attack the
other fortresses of the country ; among these were Shahdis, Turim, Rud-
bar Shirkiuh, Shir, and Sirkiuh.§ Girdkjuh still held out. One of the
garrisfon escaped, and sent to Alaeddin, the Grand Vizier, to ask for help.
He sent two leaders, each with 1 10 troopers ; one to escort three mens
of salt, the other three mens of Henna. The latter was needed not to
dye the nails and beard with, but as a preservative against a disease then
prevailing there, it having been discovered that those who drank of water
in which Henna had been infused would escape the disease.] They
succeeded in getting in.

Khulagu sent the Lord of Herat, Shems-ud-din Kest, to sunmion the
fort of Sertacht It was surrendered by its governor, who was invested
with a seal with a lion's head, and was then sent against Tun, one of the
finest cities of Kuhistan, situated two days' journey from Meshed, on the
road to Kerman, with a moated castle in the centre, surrounded by
houses and a market-place, and outside these cornfields and melon
gardens. Kitubuka and Kuli Ilkai were ordered there with their bat-
tering machines. In twelve days it was captured. IT The inhabitants
were put to the sword, except the children and young women, and the
besiegers then joined Khulagu at Thus.** At Thus he was again magni-
ficently entertained by Argun, and then went on to Radegan, where food
and wine were poured upon him from the rich districts of Mem, Yesrud,
and Dahistan. As he passed by Kabuskan, which had been laid waste

* D'Ohsson, iii. 141-189. t Von Hammer, op. cit., i. 91. D'Ohsson, iii. 140.

I Von Hammer't Ilkhans, i. 93. f Von Hammer*t Ilkhani, i. 93, 94.

I Von Hammer, op. cit, i.* 94. H Von Hammer, op. cit., i. 95. ** D'Ohaaon, iii. 190.

MANGU KHAN. I95

ac previous Mongol invasion, he ordered canals to be dug, the
>sque to be restored, and a bazaar to be built, and bade the Vizier
Seifeddin superintend the work. He then moved on to Bostam, one of
the three main towns of Kumuss.

Kuhistan was the chief seat of the power of the Ismailites. Khulagu,
on his arrival, ordered it to be overrun. At Thus he received Shahinshah,
the brother of the Ismailite chief, who came to offer his submission.
Khulagu ordered him to dismantle several of his fortified places, to receive
a Baskak or Mongol governor in his dominions, and to come in person
and submit. The chief of the Assassins began to dismantle the walls and
gates of some of his fortresses, as Meimundiz, Lemsir, and Alamut The
latter demand was evaded. Khulagu sent a special embassy to renew it,
which returned with many promises and some hostages, but with no
definite offer of submission. At length his patience was worn out, and
he ordered his troops to advance. They took the fort of Shahdiz. The
chief of the Assassins still prevaricated. Instead of sending his son as
a hostage, he tried to palm off a natural son he had had by a Kurdish
slave upon the Mongol conqueror. His object was delay, in the hope
that winter would intervene and stop the operations of the Mongols ; but
Khulagu was not to be detained. He ordered all the different contingents
to enter the province of Rudbar, and laid immediate siege to the
strongly fortified toMm of Meimundiz.* Catapults were placed on the
various commanding heights, and the attack was prosecuted with vigour.
Rokn-ud-din, the chief of the Assassins, now proposed terms to Khulagu.
He timself wished to surrender ; but a tumult in the town prevented him.
Both the vigour of the attack, and the unusual mildness of the season,
disappointed the besieged, and they at length agreed to giye in. Rokn-
ud-din, with his chief ministers, went to the Mongol camp and sur-
rendered all his treasure, and the town was evacuated. He was
well treated by the Mongols, but was obliged to give orders for the
surrender of all the fortified places in Rudbar, Kumuss, and Kuhistan.
More than forty castles were thus surrendered, and then destroyed.
Alamut and Lemsser, two of the strongest, alone remained. Alamut
(/./., the Falcon's Nest) was situated on a craggy height, north-east of
Kazvin. A large circuit of ruined walls and towers still attest its former
grandeur. It resisted for a while, but its garrison at length grew frightened,
and offered terms. The Mongols entered the place, so strong from its
situation among high and scarped mountains. Its Ubrary was celebrated,
containing the gatherings of the various Ismailite princes. The copies
of the Koran, the astronomical works, and works of value were preserved;
but the service and the theological works of the sect were mercilessly
destroyed.t The fortress, which dated from the year 860, was demolished

* lyOhiaoD, ill. r94« t D!OlMtoli» iii. igS* Von Hvnmer*! Ukhans, i« Z03.

196 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

with great trouble. Soon after the fortresses of Kuhistan, to the number
of fifty, were surrendered and demolished ; and this was followed by the
submission of the Ismailite fortresses in Syria. Rokn-ud-din was now
powerless and useless to the Mongols, and they began to treat him badly.
So long as his strongholds held out it was easier to cajole him into sur-
rendering them than to spend blood and treasure in their capture. He
had lately married a Mongol woman of low extraction, and Khulagu
would not have scrupled to put him to death but for his solemn promises
to him. He relieved him from anxiety by expressing a wish to visit the
camp of Mangu Khan. He went, and was badly received, the Khakan
refusing him an interview, and he was murdered on his way home again.
His subjects were distributed among the Mongol soldiery, and were put
to the sword as directed by the Grand Kuriltai. Even the children in
the cradles were slaughtered. Only a few escaped in the recesses of
Kuhistan, where their descendants still lived in the beginning of the
sixteenth century, when they are mentioned by Mohammed of EsfSzar,*
but practically they were exterminated. The princes of Asia Minor, Syria,
and of the Franks were relieved from their levies of black mail, and
Muhammedanism escaped a dangerous schism; but the terror they
inspired survived long enough, and the word assassin in Western
languages (a corruption of Hashishin, by which the Ismailites of Syria
were known) still bears witness to their ancient renown.t

Khulagu now went to Kazvin, far famed for its melons and its handi-
craftsmen, where he held a grand feast in honour of his victory, and
rewarded his faithful dependants. He then turned to the next object
of his expedition, namely, the subjection of the Khalif. In this he
was seconded by the learned astronomer Nassir-ud-din, of Thus,
a follower of Ali {i.e,, a Shia). From his camp in the environs of
Kazvin, Khulagu marched to Hamadan, where he met the Mongol general
Baiju, who came to do homage. He was received with the scomfiil
taunt, " Since you took the command from the hands of Churmagun,
what enemies have you conquered, what country have you subjected ?
What have you done, except to frighten the Mongol troops, with the
grandeur and power of the Khalif?" He replied, on his knees, that he
had done what he could, and had subjected the kingdom of Rum (/>.,
the Seljuk sovereignty of Asia Minor), and that he had not ventured to
attack Baghdad because of its strength and population, and the difficulties
of the way.t

Khulagu despatched an embassy to summon the Khalif to submit. The
latter was a pious man, but wanting in energy. He claimed as his dele-
gates all the sovereigns who professed the Moslem faith, and who re-
ceived investiture at his hands. Mostassim was the then Khalif, and the
princes who owned his supremacy were the Sultans of Egypt and

* D'Ohuoo, iii. sos. f D*OhM0D, ^» Mf . I D'Obnon, iii. soS.

MANGU KHAN. 197

Ruiiii the Atabegs of Fars and Kerman, the Princes of Erbil and Mosul,
and several others of less account ; but the rulers of Rum, Fars, and
Kerman had ahready submitted to the Mongols. The Khalif had besides
this a more serious domestic difficulty. He had recently persecuted,
and treated with great indignity, certain Seyid captives, descendants
of All. His vizier, who was a Shia, was much scandalised at this^
and entered into correspondence with Khulagu. At the same time he
dissembled his animosity, and tried to persuade his master, the Khalif,
that as all the Mussulman princes were his feudatories, and were ready
to sacrifice both their troops and their wealth in his service, there was
not much use in a large standing army. The luxurious Khalif meddled
little with affairs of State, and allowed the vizier to scatter the considerable
army his father had left him, and it was in this condition when the news
of Khulagu's march arrived. At the same time the so-called Little
Devatvar (/.^., vice-chancellor) made a cabal with many other chiefs to
replace the Khalif by another prince of the house of Abbas, and to
undermine the influence of the vizier. News of this conspiracy came to
the KhaliPs ear, and although matters had proceeded to great lengths,
he wrote the vice-chancellor an autograph letter, in which he told him he
considered the charges to be calumnies, and that he retained the highest
confidence in him. His letter brought a submissive answer, and on the
Devatvar presenting himself he was well received. His justification was
proclaimed in the city, and his name was inserted in the Khutb^ imme-
diately after the Khalifs.*

The letter of Khulagu complained that the Khalif had not furnished him
with a contingent in his war against the Ismailites. It went on to
remind him of the great empires that had already succumbed to the Mon-
gols, that each of their rulers was always welcome at Baghdad, as he also
expected to be. He urged that the moon only shines in the absence of the sun.
Do not strike a nail with your fist, he said, nor mistake the sun for the
puff of a candle, or you will repent ; but the past is past. He then bade
him raze the walls and fill the ditches of Baghdad, and go to him in
person, or else to send his vizier and chancellor to do homage. He told
him that if he obeyed his behests, then he should preserve his states and
troops; but if he preferred to fight, or refused to obey, they would see what
was the will of God.t According to Raschid, the Khalif replied that
Khulagu had been seduced by the good fortune of ten days into supposing
himself the arbiter of the world. He, too, reminded him of the vast power
of the Mussulmans, of which he was the head. He did not wish for war,
as he did not want his people to suffer from the march of armies, and he
counselled him to listen to the voice of peace, and to return to Khorassan.t
The envoys who bore this message were accompanied by the Mongol
envoys. The latter were maltreated by the people, who awaited them

*D'0hM0ii,tU.ai5. t D'OhtMo, iii. ai5. I D'Obsaon. iU. 8x8.

198 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

outside the gates of Baghdad. When Khulagu heard of it, he is said to have
remarked, the Khalif is as tortuous in his policy as this bow, but with the
help of God I will chastise him until he becomes as straight as an arrow.
He dismissed the envoys with the message that God had given the empire of
the earth to Jingis Khan and his descendants, and as their master refused
to obey, there was nothing for it but to prepare for war. The vizier now
counselled the Khalif that he should appease the Mongols by magnificent
presents; the Devatvar advised a different policy. With Suleiman-
shah, the generalissimo of his forces, and some others, he reproached the
Khalif with his weakness and debauchery, reminded him of the terrible
fate of the cities already ravaged by the Mongols, and begged that troops
might be at once raised. The Khalif consented, and the vizier gave
orders for a levy, but he secretly added that there was no hurry, and the
thing might be done leisurely. Meanwhile the Khalif addressed another
note to Khulagu, in which he enumerated the many disastrous expeditions
which had set out with the object of taking Baghdad, and warned him to
avoid the same fate.*

Ehulagu's march lay through the snowy mountains which separated the
two Iraks, the defiles of which were guarded by the fortress of Deriteng («.^.,
narrow defile), f The Mongols, according to their usual policy, seduced
the governor by fair promises into their power, and then persuaded him
to march out the garrison, when they completed their perfidy by a general
massacre.t Before marching, Khulagu consulted Hossam-ud-din, an
astrologer, who had been sent with him as his adviser by the Khakan,
his brother. Hossam was probably a Muhammedan. He foretold that
grave disasters would follow upon the expedition ; among other things,
that the sun would not rise ; that there would be drought, earthquakes,
pestilence, &c. He was rash enough to fix a date for the occurrence of
these misfortunes, and to offer to risk his head on the result. Khulagu
waited for the day. Hossam's prophecies were falsified, and he
was put to death on the 23rd November, 1262.5 The Bakshis or
Buddhist doctors of the Mongols counselled a confident advance, and
this advice was strengthened by that of Khulagu's favourite astrologer,
Nassir-ud-din, who was a follower of Ali, and who told him that
he should replace the Khalif on the throne. Khulagu now de-
termined to advance, and he ordered the different Mongol armies
to converge upon Baghdad. Baiju, who with his Mongols had
been engaged in Asia Minor in reducing to obedience certain towns
of the Seljuk Sultan Rokn-ud-din, who was a proteg^ of the Mon-
gols, crossed the Tigris at Mosul, and joined a second body of
Mongols under the conunand of Boka Timur, of the Noyan Sugunjak,
and the three princes of the house of Juji, who commanded the special

* D*0)^Mon, iii. 2az. t Von Hammer's Ukhana, i. 145. I D'Ohuonrili. 224.

$ D*OhNon, iii. 225.

MANGU KHAN. 199

contingent of that horde. They formed together the right wing of the
attacking force. The army -which had been on the frontiers of Luristan,
under Kitubuka and Kudussun, formed the left wing ; while Khulagu,
with the chief dignitaries of Persia, took command of the centre. Having
once more summoned the Khalif, who now offered to pay tribute, but
would not go in person, and leaving his heavy baggage at Hamadan,
Khulagu marched through the Kurdish mountains, taking and sacking
the town of Kermanshahan on the way.* He halted for thirteen days
on the banks of the river Hoi van, while Kitubuka overran the greater
part of Luristan.

A conference was held between Khulagu and some of his generals at
Thak kesra, and it was noticed that when they left him they consulted
the fissures in burnt shoulder blades of sheep, the usual Mongol mode of
divination, to see what would be the resultf They commanded the right
wing, and now crossed the Tigris at Tacut, and so great was the hurry
and panic of the inhabitants to get across the river and take refuge in
Baghdad, that the boatmen received golden bracelets, tissues of gold, and
large sums of money for the passage. This Mongol army was attacked
by one of the Khalifs divisions, under the vice-chancellor, whom I have
previously named. The Mongols retired as usual, and then succeeded in
flooding the country behind the Moslem army, which was attacked and
utterly defeated. The vice-chancellor reached Baghdad with a handful of
men. He was ordered to repair the walls and to barricade the streets.
The vast city was now invested by the Mongols ; they surrounded the
town with a rampart and ditch, the ditch being on the inside. This work
was constructed in twenty-four hours. Out of the bricks which strew
the neighbourhood, probably the debris of the old Mesopotamian empires,
they constructed mounds upon which to place the battering engines.
The bombardment commenced on the 30th of January, at all points, and
a great breach was effected in the tower A'djemi, a tower flanking one of
the gates. The Khalif sent one of his favourites, and the patriarch
of the Nestorian Christians, to offer the terms formerly proposed by
Khulagu, but these were now refused, and the attack was pressed. Palm
trees were cut down to furnish projectiles, while stones for the catapults
had to be brought from a distance of three or four days' journey to the
north, from Jebel hamrin and Jelula.J Letters fastened to arrows were
shot into the town, stating that clemency would only be extended to the
Kadhis, the Muhammedan doctors, the Sheikhs, Alevis, and non-com-
batants. On the 1st of February, the Mongols captured, by assault, all
the wall on the eastern side of the city. The vice-chancellor and a body
of 10,000 men tried to escape down the river, but the Mongols were
expecting and repulsed them with a shower of stones and pots of naptha,
and they were forced to return to Baghdad. The Khalif now saw that

* D*0bM0O, iii. aaS, t D'Ohuon, Ui. 19B, I D'Ohiton, iii. S34.

200 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

resistance was hopeless, and he sent several deputations offering terms ;
but Khulagu refused to see them. He demanded that Suleiman Shah,
the generalissimo of the Khalif s troops, and the vice-chancellor, should
be sent to him, and on their arrival he ordered them to return and bring
out all their forces. Under pretence that they were sending them into
Syria, they persuaded many of the soldiery and others to come out ; but
they were distributed among the Mongol companies, and as usual put to
to the sword.* Eibeg, the vice-chancellor, and Suleiman Shah shared
in the common fate. The latter was first jeered at by Khulagu. You,
an astrologer, who know the forecast of the stars, why did not you warn
your master ? The Khalif, was the pathetic answer, followed his destiny,
and listened not to the counsel of his servants. With the latter also
perished 700 of his house. The heads of three of the chief victims were
cruelly sent to the Prince of Mosul, an old friend of Suleiman Shah, with
orders that they should be exposed on the walls of his palace ; t an order
that he was forced to obey. The Khalif, with his three sons and 3,000
grandees, now repaired to the camp of Khulagu. He was followed by a
vast crowd of his people, who were massacred as they left the gates. On
the 13th of February the sack of Baghdad was inaugurated. The Mongols
entered from every side, fired the houses and slaughtered the inhabitants,
except the Christians and a few strangers. On the 15th, Khulagu entered
the city, and gave a grand feast in the Khalif s palace, where he ironically
treated his captive as his host. The latter produced 2,000 rich robes,
10,000 dinars, and many precious stones ; but Khulagu pressed for the
hidden treasure, when a basin filled with large gold coins, each of the
weight of 100 miscals, was produced. The Mongols, we are told, found
in the kitchens, &c., many vessels of gold and silver, which they valued
only as if they had been copper or tin. In the harem were found 700
women and 1,000 eunuchs. Mostassim begged to be allowed to keep
those wives upon whom neither the sun nor moon had shone, and he was
allowed to select 100. D'Ohsson tells us that Khulagu returned to his
camp, where were collected the vast number of precious objects which
had been amassed by the Abassides during their rule of five centuries.J
The sack of Baghdad lasted seven days, during which the greater part of
the mosques were fired. At length Khulagu ordered the massacre and de-
struction to cease. The number of the dead, we are told by Raschid, was
800,000, a frightful hecatomb when we consider that Baghdad was then
the eye and centre of the Muhammedan world ; that there its riches,
its literature and culture had their focus ; at a time when the Christian
world was almost barbarous, and when the Mussulmans were without
doubt the foremost of civilised communities. The Christians escaped
the massacre under the instructions of the Nestorian patriarch, and had
taken refuge in a church which was spared. This clemency was probably

* D'OhMon, iii. 237. t Von Hammer*! Ilkluuu, i. 252. 2 D'OliHoo, tU. 340.

MANGU KHAN. 201

due to the influence of Khulagu's chief wife Tokus, who was a Nestorian
Christian.* We are told that among the assailants the fiercest probably
were the Georgians, who enlisted in the Mongol armies, and who had
niany old scores to pay off against the Muhanmiedans. On the 20th of
February, Khulagu left Baghdad because of its tainted air. The Khalifs
fate is differently reported : Raschid and Novairi relate that he was put
to death with his eldest son and five eunuchs near Vacaf, by being sewn
in a sack and trodden imder foot by horses until he died, because, as
the latter says, the Mongols never shed the blood of sovereigns and
princes.f The Persian historians, Nikby and Mirkhond, agreeing in
this with the Armenians, have a more romantic story. They tell us that
Khulagu placed before Mostassim a seat covered with gold pieces, and
ordered him to eat them. " But you cannot eat gold," he said. " Why
then have you kept it," said the Utilitarian conqueror, *' instead of dis-
tributing it to your troops ? Why have you not converted these iron
gates into barbs for your arrows, and advanced to the banks of the
Jihun to dispute my advance ?** "It was the will of God," said the
Khalif. "What will happen to you is the will of God also," said Khtdagu;
and he left him to starve before his dishes loaded with gold and precious
stones.} Thus perished Mostassim, at the age of forty-six, after a reign
of fifteen years. He was thethirty-sevcnth of the Abassidan Khalifs
and his death caused a terrible gap in the Muhammedan world. For
three years the Moslems remained without a spiritual head. Founded in
762 by Al Mansur, the second Abassidan Khalif, Baghdad became not
only a spiritual and literary metropolis, but also a commercial one. From
Bussorah it received the productions of India and China, while those of
the north came to it by way of the Tigris and Euphrates.

Khulagu appointed governors to take charge of the captured city, Ibn
Alkamiyi, the vizier, retained his post. He is accused of treachery by
^he majority of the Moslem historians. Of the sect of the Rafizis, it was
natural that he should delight in the overthrow of the Abassidan dynasty
and the reinstatement of that of Ali ; and the proverb which was inscribed
on the books used in the Muhammedan schools, " Let him be cursed of
God who curses not Ibn ul Alkamiyi," had probably a good justification.
He died three years after the capture of Baghdad, and was succeeded by
his son Sheref-ud-din.§

Besides Ali Bahadur and the vizier Ibn Alkamiyi, other Mussulmans
seem to have won the confidence of Khulagu, and we are told that Fakhr
ud din of Damghan was made Sahib Divan, Ahmed ben Amram prefect
of the districts east of Baghdad, and Nizam ud din Abd ul Muemin
was made chief judge. A curious story is told of Ben Amram by
Mirkhond. A slave of the governor of Yakuba, he was one day employed

* Von Hammer*! Ilkhaxu, i. 252. t D'OhsioD, iii. 243. Note. I D*Ohsson, iii. 343. Note.

S D'Ohsson, iii. 249.

IC

202 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

(about twelve months before Khulagu's arrival) in the menial office of
tickling the soles of his master's feet when asleep (a conmion form of
luxury in the East), when he himself fell asleep. On awakening he told
his master that he had dreamt that the Khalifate and Mostassim were no
more, and that he himself was governor of Baghdad This ridiculous
pretension was rewarded by a kick from his master. During the siege of
the town, the Mongols having begun to run short of provisions, Ben
Amram sent a note fastened to an arrow into Khulagu's camp stating that if
he were to ask for him to come to his camp he would hear of something
useful. The Khalif was applied to and made no difficulty. Ibn Amram
when taken before Khulagu said that if he so ordered, provisions should
be forthcoming. He took one of the Mongol officers to a place near
Yakuba, where there were underground granaries containing enough to
supply the besieging army for fifteen days. His reward, in accordance with
the dream, was the government of Baghdad, says Mirkhond ; in reality he
was governor of the districts east of the city.* When the main part of
the Mongol army, evacuated Baghdad the Noyan Ilga and Kara Buga
remained behind with 3,000 horsemen to re-establish order and to bury
the dead.t The Friday after the capture, the preacher who read the
Khutb^ in place of the usual prayer for the Khalif pronoimced the fol-
lowing words ; a curious proof surely of the intensity of meaning the Mus-
sulmans attach to the duty of submission to the will of God, " Praise be to
God who has destroyed by death great beings, and has condemned to
destruction the inhabitants of this place ; " concluding thus, ** O, my God,
help us in our calamity than which Islamism and its children have not
felt their equal. But we came from God and we return to God" When
master of Baghdad Khulagu proposed this question to the Muhammedan
doctors : " Which is preferable : A just sovereign who is an imbeliever, or a
true believer who is unjust ; " they agreed that the just infidel was pre-
ferable to the unjust Mussulman.} During the siege of Baghdad the
inhabitants of the town of Hilld, who were Shias, sent envoys to him
stating that,, according to the tradition of their ancestors, the twelve
Imams and the Khalif Ali, he was fated to conquer Irak Areb and its
sovereign, and offered their submission. Khulagu detached Buga Timur,
his brother-in-law, with a Mongol force to visit them. The people of
Hill^ threw a bridge across the Euphrates and went out to meet him with
some pomp. This shows how bitter the hatred of the two great rival
sects must have been, for this occurred during the siege of the metropolis
of Muhammedanism. Seven days after leaving Hill6, Buga Timur
appeared before Vassith, which, having shut its gates, was taken by
assault and sacked. This was followed by the submission of Shuster
Bussorah and other towns of Khuzistan. At the desire of his first minister
Seif-ud-din Betikji, Khulagu posted a guard of 100 Mongols at the tomb

* D'Ohuoo, uu 347. Note. t D'OhMon, iii. 248 I D*OhMon, iii. ZS5, '

MANGU KHAN. 203

of Ali to protect it from sacrilege.* During the siege of Baghdad Khulagu
had dispatched Oroktu Noyan to capture Erbil, a flourishing city situated
between the two rivers Zab, two days' journey from Mosul. Its com-
mander came to his camp to offer his submission, but the Kurdish
garrison would not allow him to re-enter it. The unlucky governor was
put to death by the Mongols who then laid siege to the town. They were
assisted by a contingent sent by the Prince of Mosul. The garrison
fought well, but the place was at length captured, and its walls razed.t
On the 17th of April Khulagu rejoined his Aghriks (?>., the camps where
the baggage, women, &c., were left) at Hamadan. He was master of a
vast booty collected from Baghdad, the Ismailite fortresses, and the
towns of Rum, Georgia, Armenia, Kurdistan, and Lur, and he built a
strong fort as a treasure house on a scarped island in the midst of the
lake Urmia in Azerbaidjan. He sent his brother, the Khakan, a portion
of the booty, and announced to him his mtention of marching upon Syria
and Egypt.J At M^raga, he received the homage of Bedr ud din
Lulu, Prince of Mosul, who came to him with rich presents. He was a
diplomatic and wily old gentleman, and flattered Khulagu much by taking
the ear-rings out of his own ears and fastening them on those of his
suzereign. He died shortly after his return to Mosul.§ Luristan was then
divided into two provinces, the greater of which was governed by the Atabeg
Tek^l^. Having expressed his grief at the fate of Baghdad, he became
an object of suspicion to Khulagu and fied. His brother set out with
some companions to appease the Mongols, but was imprisoned and his
cortege destroyed. Tek^l^, the Prince of Lur, was seduced by fair
promises to capitulate. Khulagu actually sent him his own ring as a
token of his sincerity, but, like many others who had trusted to Mongol
promises, he was put to death. The Prince of the lesser Luristan was more
lucky. He took part in the capture of Baghdad, and was rewarded by the
investiture of his estates. At this time the Princes of Fars and the two
rival Seljuk Sultans of Rum, Rokn-ud-din Kilidj Arslan, and Iz-ud-din
Kei B[avus, came to do homage. The latter, who had reason to dread
the reception he should meet vrith, was very diplomatic. He had his
own portrait painted on the soles of a pair of socks, which he presented
to the Mongol chief as a token of his humility, at the same time,
prostrating himself and begging that Khulagu would honour him by
pladnig his august feet on the head of his servant. The partition of the
empire between the two brothers was confirmed, and they returned home
with rich presents, part of the booty from Baghdad. || Nassir ud din, a
famous astronomer, was ordered by Khulagu to build an observatory in
the most convenient position. He had impressed upon Khulagu the

* D'OhMon, iii. 255, 256. Von Hammer^s Ilkhans. i. 136.

t Von Hammer, op. cit., i. 158. D'Ohsson, iii. 257. I D'Ohsson, iii. 257.

S D'OhiMO, ill. 259. I D'OhMon, iii. 262. Von Hammer*! Ilkhant, i. 160.

204 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

necessity of forming new astronomical tables, and that observations should
be continued for at least thirty years, as Saturn's term of revolution
was of that length. He compared the different ancient tables ; the earliest
of these were those of Enerdjese, then fourteen centuries old. After
these came those of Ptolemy. There were also the observations made
at Baghdad in the reign of the Khalif Meimun ; those of Tebani, in
Syria ; and, lastly, those of Hakemi and Ibn al A'lem, in Egypt,
made 250 years before. Nassir ud din chose a site near the town of
Meraga, with him were associated four famous astronomers, namely,
Mueyed ud din Ben Urzy from Damascus, Nedjm ud din Eatib from
Kazvin, Fakhr ud din, a native of Meraga, from Mosul, and a second
Fakhr ud din, a native of Akhlatt, from Tiflis. The observatory was
furnished with armillary spheres and astrolabes, and with a beautifully
executed terrestrial globe showing the five climates. The tables that
were calculated at this observatory were published in the next reign
under the name of Zidj Ilkhani. They showed an error of forty minutes
in the previous calculations of the sun's place at the beginning of the year.
It is a curious proof of the interchange of Eastern and Western thought
under the influence of the Mongols, that Nassir-ud-din studied the era
and astronomical rules of the Chinese for the composition of these tables,
firom the Chinese doctor Fao Mun Dji, otherwise known as Sing Sing or
learned, one of the Chinese learned men Khulagu had brought with him.
Khulagu was somewhat frightened at the expense of the observatory, the
instruments of which alone cost 20,000 dinars. He was convinced of its
utility by a curious experiment. Standing on a hill, beside his astronomer,
the latter rolled a copper bowl to the bottom. The noise of this greatly
frightened those who did not know its cause, while the astronomer and
his master were perfectly at ease. " See the use of the stars," said
Nassir ud din, " they announce what will happen, and those who know can
take precautions, and are not panic-stricken like those taken by surprise."*
Argun, the governor of Persia, had in the latter part of 1258 gone to
the Khakan's court to defend himself from the charges of his intriguing
enemies. These he completely answered, and his answer was confirmed
by the Armenian Prince Sempad, who happened to be then at the court.
He returned to Persia when Mangu set out on his Chinese expedition,
and when there regulated the taxes on a new principle, the maximum for
the richest being 500 dinars, while the minimum for the poorest was one
dinar. He repaired to Georgia, where David, the son of the Queen
Riizudan, whom We have previously named, had revolted against the
Mongols, they had sent an army against them. The Georgians
were beaten. Argun was present on this occasion, and reported to
Khulagu how matters stood there. By him he was entrusted with an army
with which he returned to Tiflis.

* D'Ohison, iii. 208.

MANGU KHAN. 205

Meanwhile many of the Christians, especially those of Tacrit, who had
been well treated after the siege of Baghdad, were accused by the
Mussulmans of concealing treasure, and the charge proving correct, they
were mercilessly killed, and we are told the Mussulmans reoccupied the
cathedral of Tacrit, But notwithstanding this their condition was very
much improved by the Mongol occupation. By the Moslems they were
treated with great indignity, the many restrictions and insults they had
to bear are enimierated in some detail by D'Ohsson.* Like the
Crusaders, the Eastern Christians saw in Khulagu and his Mongols the
avengers of their many wrongs, and they welcomed them accordingly.

In the year when Baghdad fell a terrible famine and pestilence de-
vastated the provinces of Irak Areb, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Rum,
doubtless caused by the Mongol ravages.! jki

Syria was at this time ruled over by Nassir Saladin Yussuf, a great
grandson of the great Saladin. He had inherited the principality of Aleppo
in 1236, at the age of six years, and in 1250 had taken possession of that
of Damascus, which belonged to the Egyptian Sultan. In a subsequent
struggle with the latter he was defeated. The Ehalif interposed as
mediator, and he agreed to siurender to the Sultan, Jerusalem, Gaza, and
the coast as £sir as Nablus. He had sent a richly laden Embassy to the
court of Mangu, but had not yet done homage to Khulagu. After the
terrible campaign against Baghdad he dared no longer delay, and sent his
son with the vizier and other officers, who took presents and a letter to the
Prince of Mosul to intercede for him. He excused himself for not going
in person by representing the danger his country was then in from the
attacks of the crusaders. The young prince was detained during the
winter, and returned to his father, bearing a long letter, which is interest-
ing as an example of arrogant and offensive language.

The sting of the letter was increased by having some of its emphatic
phrases taken directly from the Koran, and the astronomer Nassir ud din
had the credit of its composition. I take the letter and its answer from
D'Ohsson, marking as he does the extracts from the Koran by italics.

" In the name of God, Creator of heaven and earth. Be it known to
you, Prince Nassir, that we arrived at Baghdad in the year 655, and that
we have made its sovereign prisoner. He had behaved badly towards us.
He repented, and confessed that he deserved to die. Greedy of wealth
he has ended by losing everything. His avarice has made him lose his
precious heritage. According to the adage, he who has reached his fate
begins to decline. Our prosperity, on the contrary, is increasing.

" O Prince Nassir, Seif ud din, son of Yagmur, Alai ud din El Kaimari,
and you chiefs and warriors of Syria, be it known to you that we are
God's troops on earth. That he created us in his wrath, and that he has
given us authority over those who have incurred his anger. That you

* D'Ohtioii, iii. 274, ct teq. t D'Ohsson, iii. 271.

06 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

might learn from the fate of other countries, and find a lesson in others'
misfortunes. Submit before the veil is rent asunder^ for we are not
touched by tears nor moved by entreaty. God has erased pity from our
hearts. Woe to those who are not with us. You know how many nations
and peoples we have conquered and destroyed. To you, flight ; to us,
pursuit ; but whither will you fly ? What land will protect you ; nothing
shall save you from our arms. Our steeds are like flashes of lightning,
our swords thunderbolts, our breasts hard as rocks, our warriors nume-
rous as the sand. Those who resist us repent it. Those who ask our
favour find it. Our empire is respected and our vassals are safe. If you
receive our laws then everything is in common between us. If you resist
us you will at best have but your own. He who warns is justified ;
fortresses are no barriers to us, nor will armies stay us. Your curses
against us will not be favourably listened to, for you use forbidden meats.
You keep not your word. You break treaties, and you betray the faith. You
are heretics. You love impiety and rebellion. Note that you are doomed
to misfortime and to fall. The day is coming when you shall receive tjie
ignominious punishment of your arrogance^ your ill deeds ^ and your
wickedness. ,You believe we are infidels ; we know you are bad. The
Almighty has subjected you to our dominion. Those whom you most
honour are vile in our eyes. Misfortune and woe to those who set them-
selves against us. Grace and safety to those who come near us. We
have conquered the earth from the east to the west, and spoiled those
who possessed its wealth. We have captured all the ships. Choose then
the safe path, and submit before war lights its fires and throws their
sparks over you, for you vrill meet with terrible calamity. In the wink of
an eye your land will become a desert, and you will find no refiige. The
angel of death will be able to proclaim, Is there one among them who
still has the leait sign oflife^ or whose voice can utter the least murmur.
We are chivalrous in warning you. Be quick then and confess your fear
that you be not taken unawares. Be on your guard, and when you have
received our letter read the commencement of the Bees and the end of
the Sad, We have scattered the diamonds of our words. It is for you
to reply ; and safety to him who follows the path of safety." *

To this letter, in which the arrogance of the Mongols is mixed up vrith
the bitter hatred of a Shia for a Sunni Muhammedan, and which we
are told by Vassaf is a model of Arabic style, Nassir responded with
scomftil and incisive phrases. His answer ran thus : —

" Oh^ my God, master of empires, thou givest dominion to whom thou
wiliest. Assist us. Praise be to God the ruler of the universe. Blessing
and greeting to the Coryphaeus of his messengers, the last of the prophets,
Muhammed, the untaught, and all his family.

* The Beet and the Sad are the titles of two chapters of the Koran. The former com-
mences with the words, Diviiu vengeance is coming; do not hasten it. The other ends with
the words. This script is a warning to mortals* You wiU tee one day that it prophecies truly.

MANGU KHAN. 207

*' We have noted the letter of your llkhanian and Sultanian highness
(whom may God teach the right faith and make him love the truth),
announcing that you were created by the wrath of God, and sent against
those who have incurred his anger. That you are not affected by
entreaty, nor softened by tears, and that God has erased pity from all
your hearts. Here indeed you confess your greatest infamy, for this is
the character of devils, and not of sovereigns. This impromptu quota-
tion shall confound you. Oh^ infidels^ I do not adore that which you
adofe. You are cursed in all the sacred books, you have been described in
atrocious colours. You have been pointed out by all the heavenly
apostles, and we have known you since you were made. You are infidels
as you have suspected, and the curse of God is it ftot upon the infidels?
You say we are heretics, that we have betrayed the faith, that we
are given up to rebellion and wickedness. We are reminded of those
who are careless of consequences. It is as if Pharaoh, he who denied
the true faith, had exhorted men to obey God. We are the true faithful.
Men cannot impute any transgressions to us ; we are open to no suspi-
cions. It was to us the Koran was sent from heaven. It is our God who
is eternal. We believe in the revealed word, and know how it ought to
be interpreted ; but as to you, the fire was created for you, even to con-
sume your skin. When the skies shall break in pieces, the stars be
dispersed, the mighty aeep he confounded, and the tombs overturned, then
the soul shall see the whole panorama of its life. Is it not strange to
threaten lions with blows ; tigers, hyaenas, and heroes with the vengeance
of ragamuffins ? Our horses are from Barka ; our swords from Yemen ;
our prowess is known from the east to the west ; our horsemen spring
like lions, and our horses overtake all whom they pursue ; our swords cut
in pieces, and our blows are like thunder peals ; our skin is our coat of
mail ; our chests are our cuirasses. Insults do not vex our hearts, nor
will menaces frighten us. Obedience to God implies resistance to you.
If we kill you our duty will be done. If we are killed paradise awaits
us. You say, Our breasts are like rocks, we are numerous as the sand.
Is the butcher then afraid of the sheep, because they are so numerous ?
Will not a small spark fire a big house of logs ? We shall not shrink
from death in order that we may survive in ignominy. If we live we shall
be happy; if we die we shall be martyrs. Is it not thus that the
soldiers of God triumph f You demand from us the obedience we owe
to the chief of the faithful, the vicar of the prophet. We shall not obey
you. We prefer to go and join him. You ask that we submit to you
before the veil is torn, and that you await our coming. The words of
this phrase are ill assorted. If the veil is to be destroyed, if our fate is
to be accomplished, it will surely be when we adopt the worship of idols
in the place of the true God. You have indeed advanced such strange
argxmients that it would not be strange if the skies should break asunder,
the earth should open, and the mountains should fall down. Tell your

2o8 HISTORY OK THE MONGOLS.

scribe, he who wrote your letter, you have exceeded all decency, notwith-
standing your circumcision ; but we make as little account of your prose
as of the sound of the rabab {i.e., a kind of Persian violin), or of the buzzing
of a fly. You have repaid your benefactors with ingratitude, and you
deserve your punishment. Truly we note their speech^ and we will repay
them with interest. You sport with us with your menacing phrases.
You were ambitious of exhibiting your rhetoric. It is to you it may be
said, you have followed one thing so closely you have forgotten the rest*
You have written. The wicked shall one day be overtaken by their destiny.
Such is your apostrophe. Here is our answer : The commandment of
God shall be fulfilled; do not hasten it. The Prince Nassir Seif ud din
ibn Yagmur, Alai ud din el ILaimeri, and the other chiefs and warriors of
Syria, they do not refuse the challenge ; they await impatiently the neighing
of the horses and the charge of the warriors, for they have sworn to meet
you. It is not necessary to jump into hell, for it is a bad resting-place ;
nor to strike a helmet-plume with a sword, they all bid me tell you. If your
arms arc eager for the fight there is no need of verses, of writing letters,
or of composing histories. We await you. God grant the victory to
whom he will. We shall not scatter diamond words, but we say what
comes to our lips, and we excuse him who stammers. Greeting." *

There could only be one issue to such a correspondence, and that one
came speedily.

Ehulagu set out from Tebriz ; with him went Salih, the son of the
Prince of Mosul, who had married the daughter of the KJiuarezm Shah
Jelal-ud-din. Kitubuka commanded the advance guard, Sinkur and
Baiju the right wing, Sundjar the left wing, and Khulagu himself the
centre. He set out on the 12th of September, 1259, and went by way of
Alatagh, which lies between Ararat and Erzerum. He then marched to
Akhlath, north of Lake Van, a town famous for its apples. The Kurds
of the tribe of Hukkiari who garrisoned it were slaughtered.! Entering
Diarbekr he took Jezirat, while his son Yashmut laid siege to Mayafarkin.
The Mongols had a long score to wipe off in the case of its prince.
Notwithstanding that he had been invested by the Khakan Mangu him-
self with his principality, he had proved very treacherous ; he was charged
with having crucified a Syrian priest who bore a yarlig (passport) from
the Imperial Chancellary; of having driven away from his country
the Mongol commissaries or prefects; of having sent some troops
to assist the Khalif. He had more lately been to Damascus to^ask
Nassir to fight the Mongols, Roha (the ancient Edessa), Harran, and
Nisibin were successively occupied, and the inhabitants of Sarudj, who
had sent Khulugu no envoys, were put to the sword. J He wintered his
army near Roha and there held a reception, which was attended by the

* D'Obuon. iii. 294-306. t Von Hanimer^i lUchani, i. 274.

I Von Hammer's lUcbani, L 174. D'Ohiaon, iii 309.

MAXGU KHAX. 209

kings of Armenia, the Seljuk sovereigns of Rum, &c.* Meanwhile
Nassir enlisted in his service the various bands of fugitives who now
took refuge in Syria. He posted his army at Berze, a httle north of
Damascus. It was a turbulent and disjointed body of Arabs and Turks,
and so little attached to him that a portion of it tried to murder him. He
sent his wives and treasures for safety into Egypt, and was imitated in
this by many of his soldiers. Under pretence of escorting them, many of
them fled and did not return again, such was the terror inspired by the
Mongols. The army of Nassir was practically disbanded. He applied
to the Sultan of Egypt for succour. That country after many revolutions
was now governed by Kuttuz, who had once been a slave, had risen to
the rank of general, and then usurped the supreme authority : he agreed
to assist Nassir in any way he would suggest.t

ELhulagu, who was master of Mesopotamia, continued his advance and
marched in the spring towards Aleppo. He crossed the Euphrates at
four famous fords — Malatia (the ancient Melitene), Kalaatol Rum (/.^.,
the Roman Castle), Bire (the ancient Birtha), and Kirkesia (anciently
Kirkesion). He captured certain forts on the river, namely, Menbedsh,
Nedshm, Rakka, and Jaaber, and slaughtered their inhabitants.} Having
left garrisons there, he advanced towards Aleppo. A division of his army
made a diversion ; received the submission of Maaretnaaman, Hama,
and Hims ; the sultans of the two latter towns finding refuge in Egypt.g
As the Mongols drew near to Aleppo a good many fugitives escaped to
Damascus, where a pestilence was raging. The garrison made a
sortie and the Mongols adopted their ordinary ruse of a feigned retreat,
which led the Mussulmans into an ambuscade, where many of them
perished. Khulagu now arrived in person and summoned the command-
ant to surrender, in a conciliatory but probably treacherous letter ; the
only reply he received was : " Between us there is only the sword." The
besiegers threw up works of contravallation, and in a single night
surrounded the town with a rampart and ditch. Twenty catapults were
placed in position, and after an attack of seven days the city was taken
by assault and given up to pillage for five days ; when the carnage ceased,
the streets were cumbered with corpses. Those who had taken refuge in
the Jews' synagogue, in one of the Muhammedan convents, and in the
houses of four grandees, who were probably traitors, escaped. It is said
that 100,000 women and children were sold as slaves. The walls of
Aleppo were razed, its mosques destroyed, and its gardens ravaged. The
citadel held out for a month : in it were captured many distinguished
prisoners and a vast booty. Several of the Mongol chiefs were wounded
in the face, and Khulagu complimented them, saying, ^'A red gown is a
woman's pride : so is blood the warrior's brightest ornament.''

* Voo Hammer*! Ilkhani, i. 174. t D*Ohsaon, iii. 3x5* 1 Von Hammer's Ilkhans, i. 181.
r $ Von Hammer, op. cit., i. 182.
ID

210 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Bar Hebraeus, whose history is so well known, was at this time the
Jacobite patriarch of Aleppo, but he was absent at the time of the siege,
having gone to pay his respects to Ehulagu.* After the fall of Aleppo,
Hamath surrendered its keys and received a commissary from Khulagu.
Nassir, who was still at Berz6 when Aleppo fell, by the advice of his
generals now retired towards Gaza to await assistance from the Egyptian
Sultan. He ordered the chief men of Damascus to fly and take refuge in
Egypt. They generally obeyed, and sold their possessions at a great
sacrifice. Such was the scarcity of transport however, that Macrizi tells
us a camel sold for 700 silver drachmas. The inhabitants of Damascus
now sent a deputation to Khulagu with rich presents and carrying the
keys of the city. He caused the Kadhi Mohayi ud din, the chief of
this deputation, to be dressed in a state robe of golden tissue and named
him Chief Justice of Syria. He returned to Damascus and read out a
decree of Khulagu, promising their hves to the inhabitants. Khulagu
sent two commanders, one a Mongol the other a Persian, to take charge
of Damascus, with orders to spare the inhabitants and to obey the
counsels of Zein-ul-Hafizzi, its governor. Shortly afterwards Kitubuka
and a body of Mongols garrisoned the town, and after a short siege cap-
tured the citadel, which had refused to submit, and killed its conmianders.
Kitubuka was a Kerait and a Christian, and we arc told that he very
much favoured the Christians, who began to be very independent in their
manners towards their recent masters the Mussulmans. They publicly
drank wine even in the great fast of Ramazan ; they sprinkled with holy
water the dress of the Muhammedans and the doors of the mosques ;
they made the followers of the prophet stoop to the cross in their proces-
sions ; they sang psalms in the streets, and proclaimed that their faith
was the only true faith, and even destroyed mosques and minarets in the
neighbourhood of their churches ; all this under the patronage of the
Mongol general. Khulagu named the Eyoubit Prince Ashraf, who had
been deprived of his patrimony of Hims by Nassir, Lieutenant-general
of Syria.

After the fall of the citadel of Aleppo, Khulagu summoned Harem,
situated two days' journey on the way to Antioch, to surrender, promising
their lives to the inhabitants. They replied that they did not know his
religion and how far he was bound by a promise, but that if he would send
them a Muhanmiedan with authority to swear on the Koran to spare
them, they would surrender. Khulagu thereupon sent them Fakhr ud din
Saki, the late commander of the citadel of Aleppo, when they surren-
dered ; but piqued by their want of faith in his word he had them all
destroyed, notwithstanding the promise ; even the children at the breast
were killed. We are told that only an Armenian artificer of some fame
escaped.

* D'Obuoo, iii. 321. Von Hammer's Ilkhan, i. 184.

MANGU KHAN. 21 1

Khulagu received at Aleppo the news of the death of the Khakan
Mangu, his brother, and he set out on his march eastward, leaving Kitu-
buka in command of the Mongol forces in Syria ; he named Fakhr ud
din governor of Aleppo, and Baidera governor of Damascus.

Haithon, the Armenian king and chronicler, tells us that Khulagu's
departure took place just as he was meditating a campaign against the
Saracens, who occupied Jerusalem, which he intended to restore to the
Christians.* In measuring the success of the Mongol arms under his
banner we must not forget what several facts already mentioned, and
many others which I have not named, make quite clear, namely, that the
Mongols were assisted at every turn by the treachery of the Mussulmans.
The bitter strife between Shia and Sunni often made the Mongol a
welcome visitor when he came to destroy the hated rival, and caused as
much disaster to the common cause as the internecine fight between the
Jesuits and Dominicans in China did at a later day. These melancholy
exhibitions repeat themselves in the histories of nearly all religions, but
the moral of their tale is seldom so bitterly pointed as in the case we
have- described.

Khulagu, as is well known, received the investiture of his conquests and
of the country south of the Oxus. He founded an empire there, known
as that of the Ilkhans. Like the Khans of the Golden Horde, the suc-
cessors of Batu, they for a long time acknowledged the suzereignty of the
Khakan of the Mongols in the East, but their special history is not a part
of our present subject. I have traced out Khulagu's campaign in some
detail, inasmuch as he was fighting as the general of the Khakan Mangu
his brother, and enlarging his empire by the conquests he made in the
West The internal history of his dominions, after he became their sove-
reign, I may perhaps treat in a succeeding volume. Now we must return
to the East, and continue the story of Mangu Khan.

I have already said that Khubilai had been commissioned in 1252 to
march into Yunnan, a country divided into several petty kingdoms which
had not been subdued by the Sung emperors. Its primitive tribes still
preserve a peculiar culture and idiosyncrasy in art which has been recently
illustrated at South Kensington, and of which very interesting specimens
were presented to the Christie Museum. These tribes are divided by the
Chinese into the Pe man, /.^., white barbarians, and U man, /.^., black
barbarians, the latter were called Kara djang, />., black people, by the
Mongols.t

Khubilai assembled his main army in Shensi in 1253. With him went
Uriangkadai, the son of the great general Subutai, as director of the
military operations. They traversed Suchuan and its almost inaccessible
mountains, and reached the river Kincha which waters the northern
portion of Yunnan* This they crossed on rafts, and received the

* D'Obiion, iii. 3^8. Note.; t D'OhnoB, ii. 3i7«

212 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

submission of the chiefs of the Mussu man and Pe man barbarians.*
They then marched against Tali, the capital of Nanchao. Having heard
that a general of the Sung dynasty had once taken a town without killing
a man or even disturbing its trade, Khubilai was piqued to try and
imitate him. He unfurled his silken banners before the tomi and forbade
his soldiers to kill any one. Presently the town surrendered. The two
commanders who had caused the Mongol heralds which summoned it
to be killed, alone lost their lives. Khubilai now left the army to
rejoin his brother, the Khakan.t

Uriangkadai continued the campaign. He fought several successful
battles against the Eastern Thibetans, who are described by De Mailla as
a warlike and powerful race.t Having defeated and incorporated their
troops in his army, he found them very useful in his struggles with the
neighbouring tribes. In the end of 1254 he rejoined Mangu apparently
at Kokonoor, and gave an account of his campaign. In 1256 he returned
and subdued the Kue man and U man tribes. The Lolos and the King
of Ava now submitted, and he proceeded to defeat the tribes of the
kingdom of Alu, by whose conquest he won five large towns, four arsenals,
eight departments, four provinces, and thirty-seven hordes. §

Towards the end of 1257 the Mongols attacked the kingdom of Annam
or Tungking (Tonquin), they advanced to the river Tha, which flows
through it, and where the Tonquinese army was encamped with a great
number of elephants. Having crossed the river on rafts the Mongols
attacked their enemy, who fled. They then took Kiaochi, the capital of
Tonquin, they there found their envoys, who had been grossly ill-treated
and almost strangled with bamboo cords ; in punishment for this conduct
the town was given up to pillage. Having rested his army for nine days
he returned northwards to the court of Mangu to escape the summer
heats. The previous year a Kuriltai had been held, at which largess had
been freely distributed, the festivities lasting for two months. The same
year, i,e,^ in 1256, the King of Corea went in person to Mangu's court to
do homage. II

In 1257 Mangu began to be jealous of his brother Khubilai, whose wise
and generous measures had won the respect of the Chinese. He removed
him from the governorship of Honan, which he gave to Alemdar, a
Mongol in high office at Karakorum. Khubilai was naturally irritated,
but his Chinese counsellor Yaochu told him the first subject of the empire
ought to set an example of obedience. He advised him to return with
his family to his brother's court. The latter was deeply touched by the
submission, and revoked the commission of Alemdar. At a Kuriltai
summoned in 1257 at Kabur Kabukcher, in the centre of Mongolia,
Mangu declared his intention of marching in person against the enipire

* De Mailla, ix. 958. t D'Ohtsoo, ii. 316.

I De Mailla, op. cit, 260. § De MailU, iz. 26s. S D'Ohisoo, ti. 331.

MANGU KHAN. 21 3

of the Sung, which had given great cause of offence to the Mongols.
Some of their envoys having been kept in prison for many years and
only released as a favour after their unsuccessful siege of Hochau,
the Sung authorities wishing thus to show their anxiety for peace.
Before setting out, Mangii visited the ancient ordu of Jingis Khan
and made a sacrifice to the colours and kettle-drums, his old gauges
of victory there collected. He also appointed one Kitat governor of Russia,
and dismissed him with a present of 300 horses and 500 sheep.*

He set out for China in 1257, leaving his brother Arikbuka in com-
mand of Earakorum with Alemdar as his coadjutor. Having sacrificed
to the sky and received the renewed homage of his brother Khubilai and
his other dependants, who then returned to their several posts, he crossed
the Yellow River on the ice, entered Shensi, and encamped near the
mountain Liupan where Jingis died. There he gave audience to the
various officials of that great province, and received news from Khulagu
of his successes in the West. He thereupon invested him with the
government of the country south of the Oxus.t Having passed the three
summer months there, and also left behind his heavy baggage, he
advanced with 40,000 men (which number was purposely exaggerated to
loOyOoo) in three divisions upon Suchuan ; he himself went towards
San kuan, by way of Lu chau ; his brother Muke Ogul towards Mi
tsang kuan, by way of Sian chau ; and Burtchak, the commander of the
third division, towards Mian chan, by way of Yui koan. Two other
armies made diversions in Kiang nan and Hu kuang. Khubilai was
at the head of the former and Thugatshar, son of Utsukcn, of the latter.
Uriangkadai was ordered to march from Tunking and join Khubilai at
Vu chang fu. The campaign commenced with a doubtful struggle in the
neighbourhood of Ching tu fu, in Suchuan, in which both sides gained
successes. Niuli, who commanded the Mongol advanced guard there,
at length compelled his adversary to retire. He received the submission
of several towns in the district of Ching tu fu, and was raised to the
rank of a general for his conduct. t He now rejoined his master, who
was laying siege to Khu chu yai. After an attack of ten days one of its
gates was opened and the Mongols entered by stealth ; Yangli, the
commander, was killed and his army fled. The treacherous officer who
had opened the gate was rewarded with a State robe and the command of
a small town in the district of Pao-ning-fu. The troops were rewarded
with presents of wine and meat, and the general Vang-te-cheng with a
belt of jade.§

Mangu now captured the defile of Chang-ning-shan, and was soon after
joined by the other divisions of his army, which had overrun considerable
districts of Suchuan. They then proceeded to take many important

* D*Ohtson, ii. 324. t D'Ohtson, ii. 325. De Mailla, ix. 266.

I D'OhstOD, ii. 326. j D'Ohsson, ii. 337.

214 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

towns of that province. The first day of the Mongol year (February
1 8th) 1259 was celebrated in the Imperial camp, pitched at the foot of
the Chung-kue mountains, with a great fete, at which it was discussed
whether they should brave the summer heats in these southern latitudes
or return northward. It was determined to remain, and they proceeded
to lay siege to Hochau, a great town situated at the confluence of the
rivers Kialing and F^u. During March and April the town repulsed
several assaults. In May there happened a terrible storm, during which
it rained for twenty days. Outside the town the Sung troops also fought
bravely, they destroyed the bridge built across the river F6u by the
Mongols, and having collected a thousand boats at Chung-king-fii they
advanced along the river Eia-ling ; this flotilla was however attacked and
dispersed by the Mongols. The siege lasted for two months longer, but
it was unavailing. It had already cost the besiegers very dear, their
army was suffering from dysentery, with which Mangu himself was
attacked. He determined at length to raise the siege, and to merely
blockade the town. A few days after be died of dysentery, aggravated
probably by the Imperial vice of the Mongols, that of drunkenness.

This account of his death, which is that given in the Tong kien kang
mu, is perhaps the correct one. The official history of the Yuen dynasty
says he died at the mountain Tiao yui, one league to the east of Ho-chau,
while Raschid tells us he died of dysentery.* De Guignes and Gaubil both
assert thatduringthe siege of Ho-chau the Khakan ordered a general assault,
and himself drew near to scale the walls, when there came on a great storm,
which caused the ladders to fall. The Mongols lost a large number of
men, and the Emperor's body was afterwards found pierced with many
wounds.t The Syrian chronicler Abulfaragius says he was killed by an
arrow ; while the Armenian Haithon says that while besieging an island
in the Chinese seas, divers made holes in the bottom of his ship, which
sank, and with it the Khakan. t The Khakan's brother, Moku Ogul,
determined to raise the siege, and to retire into Shensi with the corpse of
Mangu. The other Mongol generals who were in Suchuan did the same.S
The Kang mu says the Imperial corpse was carried on two asses;
while Marco Polo tells us that the inhuman custom of slaughtering the
people met with on the way was carried out in his case, and that 20,000
thus perished. II For four days funeral honours were paid to the corpse
in the tents of Mangu*s four wives, where it was placed on a throne,
where the attendants broke out into tears and groans. He was buried at
Burkan Kaldun, near his father and grandfather. By his first wife,
Kutuktai, he left two sons, Baku and Orengias ; and by two concubines
two other sons, Shireki and Assutai.^ He is described as of a severe

* D'Ohsson, ii. 33a. t Gaubil, izi, De Guigocff, iv. 136.

I Yule's Marco Polo, i. 2x6. De Mailla, ix. 374, 275. Note. S Gaubil, I2X.

6 D'OhuoD, ii. 333. Note.

MANGU KIIAX. 215

character, speaking little, and eschewing extravagance and display. The
chase was his favourite amusement, and he often avowed that he pre-
ferred the simple life of his ancestors to the luxury of southern sovereigns.
He was very superstitious, and much under the influence of the Shamans
and others at his court.* With the usual Mongol toleration, he also
patronised the other religions. Several anecdotes are told which
illustrate the vicious influence and power of the Shamans.
Rubruquis was told at Karakorum by a lady of Metz, named Paquette,
who had been captured in Hungary and was in the service of one of
Mangu's wives, that one of these princesses having received a rich
present of furs, these were purified by tire. According to custom the
Shamans had retained a portion. One of the waiting women thought
they had kept too much, and told her mistress, who was very wroth with
them. Some time after the latter fell ill, and the Shamans revenged
themselves by declaring she had been bewitched by the maid who had
denounced their theft. She was seized and subjected to torture for seven
days. Meanwhile the princess died. The accused maid then begged they
would kill her too, saying she wished to follow her mistress, to whom she
had done no harm ; but the Khakan would not consent, and she was set
at liberty. The Shamans then chose another victim. They accused the
nurse of her child of having killed her. She was the wife of one of the
principal Nestorian preachers. Put to the torture she confessed that she
had used a charm to gain the good-will of her mistress, but that she had
never done her any harm. She was nevertheless condemned to death
and executed. Some time after, one of Mangu*s wives having given birth
to a son, the Shamans who drew his horoscope predicted a long life for
him, and that he would become a great and prosperous monarch. The
prince having died in a few days, his mother summoned and severely
reproached the Shamans. They excused themselves by laying the blame
on the magical arts of the nurse who had been put to death. The
princess was furious, and wished to wreak her vengeance on her
children. She had left a son and daughter, and orders were given
that the former should be killed by a man and the latter by a woman.
Mangu was much annoyed by these executions ; he ordered his wife to
be imprisoned for seven days, and then banished from the court for a month.
He also ordered that the man should be executed who had killed the
boy, and that his head should be suspended about the neck of the woman
who had killed the girl. She was then beaten with hot firebrands and
put to death. t The Nestorians, as I have said, were little better than the
Shamans in their superstitious practices. They attended with the
Shamans at the great annual feast of the 9th of May, when white cattle
were consecrated. They recited the offices in Syriac, which they did not
understand. They are accused by Rubruquis of being corrupt, liars,

* Do IfailU, ix. 375. t D'Ohsson, ii. 302. Note.

2l6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

usurers, practising simony, and great drunkards. Some of the sect were
polygamists. Their patriarch hved at Baghdad, but they had a special
bishop in China. As he only made his visitation very seldom, hardly
more than once in fifty years, they profited by his arrival to have their
young sons ordained, even in the cradle, so generally too, that nearly all
the men were priests ; and Rubruquis confesses that the Mongol bonzes
were more respectable than they.*

Mangu was a severe disciphnarian. In the campaign in Suchuan he
forbade his troops to pillage, and having learnt that his son Assutai had
in hunting overrun a field of grain, he severely reprimanded him, and had
several of his companions beaten. A soldier was put to death for having
taken an onion from a peasant. He, on the other hand, distributed
largess freely among the soldiers. t

In this account 1 have adopted the form of the name Mangu, which is
well known in the West, but according to Schmidt it is the Turkish
form. The native form, which is found in Ssanang Setzen and on Cufic
coins, is Mongk6 ; in Arabic orthography, Mungka.t The name in
Turkish means eternal ; in Mongol, silver.§

KHUBILAI KHAN.

The death of Mangu was most unexpected, and as the Mongol habit
was not to name a successor until after the Khan's death, it is hardly to be
wondered at that the death of the sovereign under such circumstances in
such a vast empire was a very serious matter. The custom seems to have
been to call a Kuriltai as soon after the chief's death as possible, and
there to choose a successor ; a custom well adapted to a small pastoral
tribe, but pregnant with confusion when applied to a great heterogeneous
empire. In the present case the difficulty was greater, inasmuch as
Mangu's brothers, to one of whom the succession would devolve according
to the Mongol theory of succession, were scattered far asunder. Khubilai
was prosecuting his campaign in China, Khulagu was busy in Syria, while
Arikbuka was in command of Karakorum, the Mongol capital, and
probably also of the main body of troops of Mongol blood, and was in
this position no doubt sorely tempted to displace his elder brother
Khubilai from the succession.

* De Mailla, ix. 253. t D'Ohsson, ii. 333. I Stanang Setzen, 394. Note 11.

$ D'Ohuon, ii. 333. Note.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 217

Mangu had assigned to Khubilai the district of Honan chau, north of
the Great Wall, for a summer residence. There in 1256 he built himself
a palace, some temples, &c., on a spot chosen for him by a Chinese
astrologer. This new town, situated some twenty-two leagues N.E. of
the most northern gates of the Great Wall, was widely known as Shangtu
or Kai ping fu. Thence he set out in the latter part of 1258 to take his
part in the war against the Sung empire. He marched leisurely through
Honan, and having divided his army into two bodies he captured several
fortresses near Ma ching, in Hukuang, where he received news of the
Khakan's death.* He determined, notwithstanding this, to advance. We
are told he climbed the mountain Hianglu, whence he surveyed the course
of the river Kiang. He noticed how the river was crowded with Chinese
ships beautifully appointed, and was reminded by one of his generals
named Tong-wen-ping that the Chinese were abundantly confident that
the Kiang was an insurmountable obstacle which heaven had planted there
as a barrier to himself. He volunteered to force the passage. With his
brother and a body of determined men he boarded some large barges,
crossed the river amidst a terrible din of drums, and pressed the troops
on the other side so vigorously before their fleet could come to the rescue,
that the Chinese abandoned the further bank, and Khubilai with the
main army crossed over and proceeded to lay siege to Wu chang fu, the
capital of Hu kuang.

The Sung Emperor now began to be frightened, and sent a large force
under the general Kia-se-tao to the relief of Wu chang. The new general
was no soldier but a literary character, who disgusted the army by his
jq>pointments. He made secret advances to Khubilai, and promised that
his master would become the vassal of the Mongol Khakan if he would
laise the siege and retire. Khubilai at first refused, but messengers
arrived at his camp with news that intrigues were in progress at Kara-
komm to place his brother Arikbuka on the throne. This news prevailed
with him. He agreed to retire on condition that the Sung Emperor
acknowledged himself his vassal, and paid him an annual tribute of 200,000
ounces of silver and 2,000 pieces of silk. It was further agreed that
the river Kiang should be the boundary between the two empires.
Khubilai set out with his cavalry, and left his infantry to await the
arrival of Uriangkadai. The latter general had been ordered after the
campaign inTunking to march and meet Khubilai before Wu chang. He
marched victoriously from one town to another until he arrived in
Northern Hu kuang, when the convention concluded by Khubilai
caused him to retire behind the Kiang. His rear guard was treacherously
attacked by Kia-se-tao as it was crossing the river ; the latter hid from
his master the humiliating conditions of peace, and persuaded him his
valour had caused the Mongol retreat.t

• GanbU, 133. t Do MaiUa, iz. 981.

IE

2l8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Ehubilai pitched his camp under the walls of Pe-king and sent to
his brother for men, provisions, and money; these he received, as also very
reassuring messages. Arikbuka had summoned a Kuriltai in the great
Ordu of Mangu, in the Altai, to do the last honours to the deceased
Khakan, and to this he invited Khubilai, who excused himself. It is
probable that he had some ulterior object. Either he had secured the
votes for himself or wished to get Khubilai into his power. At all events
the latter and his friends called a special Kuriltai at Shangtu. There
assembled his brother Muk^ ; Kadan, son of Ogotai ; Togatshar, son of
Utsuken noyan, and others. Neither Khulagu nor the descendants of
Juji and Jagatai were summoned, the excuse being that they were too far
off, and all agreeing that the circumstances admitted of no delay, they
proceeded to elect Khubilai to the office of Khakan. He was then forty-four
years old. The election was followed by eight days' feasting, when as usual
largess was distributed among his supporters. This election was the
beginning of a long strife among the Mongols, which ultimately crumbled
their power. It was no doubt against the whole theory of their
hierarchical government, that the Khakan should be elected by only a
section of the Royal house, and although Khubilai both by his age and
his acquirements was entitled to the position, and it would seem to have
been allowed by both Khulagu and Bereke, it gave a colourable excuse to
both Arikbuka and the descendants of Ogotai and Jagatai to oppose hinu

When Arikbuka, who was at Karakorum, heard that Khubilai had had
himself proclaimed Khakan of the Mongols, he sent Alemdar to collect an
army among the northern hordes, and sent him considerable sums of
money and silk to distribute among the soldiers. He also collected large
stores of grain in the country of Koan chong.* Kuntukai, who had
60,000 men in the country of Lupinj having been placed there by Mangu,
declared for him, and persuaded the Mongol commanders stationed at
Ching tu, the capital of Suchuan, and at Ching kin to do the same.
Arikbuka finding he was so well supported had himself proclaimed
Khakan at Karakorum.f Among his supporters were the chief widow and
three sons of Mangu, the late Khan, and the grandsons of Jagatai'
Khubilai had appointed Apisga, son of Buri, to the khanship of
Jagatai, and sent him home with his brother, but they were intercepted in
Shensi and handed over to Arikbuka, who shortly after had them both
killed.

Meanwhile Khubilai was not idle, he appointed one of his best
generals, called Lien hi hien, a Uighur by birth, to be governor of
Shensi and Suchuan. Kadan, son of Kuyuk, asked to be allowed to
serve under him. He went at once to Si ngan fu, the capital of Shensi,
where he proceeded to counteract the influence of the partisans of Arik-
buka. He pubUshed the decrees by which he had been named governor ;

* Do Mailla, ix. 283. t De If ailla, ix, 285* 284. Gaubil, 133.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 219

took rigorous steps to put down the nascent rebellion ; and seized some
of the more important rebels. Khubilai had published a general amnesty,
but Lien hi hien was determined that the chief offenders should not escape,
so be hastened to have Liau ti ping and Halukai killed in prison, and
then with Turkish unction, and according to custom, he walked in front
of the messengers who brought the amnesty and had it proclaimed.
Kuntxikai finding it was not possible to possess himself of Si ngan fu,
crossed the Hoang ho, captured the town of Kan chau, and having been
joined by Alemdar with a body of troops from Karakorum he marched
southwards towards Suchuan, which he hoped to secure, but he was
attacked to the east of Kan chau by the Prince Kadan, who had posted
himself so as to cut off the enem/s retreat to Karakorum, a cloud of dust
assisted the latter, but after a fierce and long sustained struggle they
were surroimded and completely beaten. Both Kuntukai and Alemdar
were IdUed, and Shensi and Su-chuan were effectually secured for
Khubilai.*

After several ineffectual attempts at conciliation, Khubilai marched in
the end of 1261 with the Princes Kadan and Togatshar into Tartary.
They encountered the forces of Arikbuka at a place called Simutu. In a
sanguinary battle the latter were defeated with the loss of 3,000 men.
Arikbuka fled towards the Kirghises, and Khubilai subdued several of
the refractory tribes in the north.t In his distress Arikbuka had
appointed Algu, the son of Baidar, Khan of Jagatai, which was still
governed by the widow Organa. He bade him send him arms and pro-
visions, and to guard his eastern frontier so that neither Khulagu nor the
Golden Horde should send assistance to Khubilai. But being hard
pressed in the country of the Kirghises he sent to Khubilai, saying that
his horses were worn out, and that he only waited until Khulagu, Bereke,
and Algu came to do homage, to come himself. Khubilai replied, that if
sincere, he need not wait, and having left a body of troops at Karakorum
to escort him if he shotild go, he himself returned to Kai-ping-fu.

The influence of Chinese cultiwe upon the Mongol sovereigns begins
to be very marked in the reign of Khubilai. He was a g^eat patron of
learned men, and the annals contain many anecdotes of his intercourse
with them. He had at his ct>urt a distinguished Chinese literate, named
Changt6 hoeL He one day' asked him, " Is it true that the Liao dynasty
fell through the Ho chang, and that it was the literates who brought
down the Kin ?" " I can't speak for the Liao," said Changt6, " but in
regard to the Kin it was not so ; among their ministers they had but few
literates. Most of the ministers, and these too the all powerful ones,
were military men. Of thirty suggestions made by the literates, hardly
one was adopted. The good or ill government of a country depends on
those to whom power is intrusted. Can the fall of the Kin then.be

* Ganbil, X35. De If ailla, ix. 285. t De MaiUa, ix. 298. Gaubil, 138.

220 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

ascribed to the literates ? " The Emperor acceded to this argument. On
another occasion the Emperor inquired how it was that those who
practised agriculture, notwithstanding their constant toil and zeal, were
always so very poor. It is not surprising, was the reply. Agriculture
has always been encouraged by the State ; it draws its chief wealth from
it; but the labourers are constantly harassed by the exactions of those
under whom they work, and the best part of the crop goes to pay the
taxes and the cost of collecting them.

Yesterday, Khubilai once said to one of the literates, there was an
earthquake. The princes do not sufficiently attend to these things; can
you tell me why they are ? There are five causes, was the answer. First,
because the princes permit low and bad people to be about them, who
sacrifice everything to their own interests ; that they have too many
women in their palaces ; that intriguers and cheats combine against the
public interest ; that justice is too severe in its punishments ; and, lastly,
that war is made too rashly, without inquiring properly into its justice*
One only of these reasons would suffice. Heaven loves a king on
his throne like a father his son. It causes the earth to quake as a
warning of impending punishment ; but if kings put away flatterers,
tolerate only sincere and truthful people, limit the number of their wives,
drive away intriguers, &c., soften the rigours of justice, and only under-
take war tremblingly and when compelled, and with the assent of heaven
and their subjects, they will have nothing to fear from such presages.
Khubilai appointed Se tien ch6, a man of great repute for probity and
integrity, who had a command in Honan, to be Minister of State. He
also ordered the literates who had been captured by the Mongols and
reduced to slavery to be released. There were several thousands of
them.* He was the first of the Mongol Khakans to definitely
abandon Shamanism and to adopt Buddhism as the State religion, an
example which was followed by many Mongols. The Buddhist priests
were called Lamas by the Mongols, and in January, 1261, Khubilai pro-
moted a young Lama, called Mati Dhwadsha, more widely known by
his title Pakba Lama, or Supreme Holy Lama. He was bom at Sazghia,
in Thibet, and belonged to one of its best families, that of the Tsukoans,
who had for more than six centuries furnished ministers to the kings of
Thibet and other western princes, and by his wisdom, &c., won the
confidence of Khubilai, who not only made him Grand Lama, but also
temporal sovereign of Thibet, with the title of King of the Great and
Precious Law and Institutor of the Empire. Such was the origin of the
dignity of Grand Lanuuf Khubilai divided China and Liao timg into
ten departments, each with its officers and mandarins. He also ordered
that the head of each bureau should be a MongoL
Wang ch^, the King of Corea, after a long resistance had submitted to

* De MailU, ix. 29X. t Gaubil, 137. De M ailU, ix. 387.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 221

the Khalan Mangu, and had sent him his son Wangtien as a hostage.
He was now dead, and Wangtien asked Khubilai for his father's kingdom
and was duly invested with it The turbulent Coreans at first refused to
receive him and were determined to break the Mongol yoke, and it was
only when Wangtien agreed to assist them in this that they would accept
him. When the revolt was reported to Khubilai he wrote Wangtien a
condliatoiy letter, in which he represented to him the vast power of the
Mongols, that of all the kingdoms of the earth the Coreans and the Sung
alone bearded his authority, that the latter had trusted to the strong
country of Hu kuang and Suchuan and their brave inhabitants to protect
them, but that most of their strong places had been captured, and they
were now like fish out of water and like birds in the fowler's net. He
recalled how he had granted him his father's throne, spoke of the folly of
resistance, and the ingratitude he had shown hun. He said he did not
wish to ravage his country, and that he was willing to pardon the offenders.
At the same time he released the Corean prisoners taken in the last war,
and sent back those who had emigrated on account of the troubles of
their coimtry, and forbade the soldiers on the frontier to molest the
Coreans. This conciliatory policy had its due effect, and for the future
Wangtien sent an annual embassy to Khubilai to congratulate him
on the New Year.*

Arikbuka having recruited his horses in the latter part of 1261, again
marched against his brother; the latter collected his forces, and the two
armies met on the borders of the great desert of Gobi, in a place called
Akchia Kungur, near the mountains Khudja Buka and the lake
Stmultai.t Arikbuka was completely defeated ; but Khubilai forbade a
pursuit, saying, that reflection would bring repentance, but misinterpreting
this action, which he thought showed weakness, he returned and was again
defeated; this time on the borders of that portion of the desert called
Alt, near the hills SilguiUct

Arikbuka now had to face another enemy, namely, his proteg^ Algu,
the Khan of Jagatai, who quarrelled with him and espoused the cause of
Khubilai. He at once marched against his new enemy, leaving instruc-
tkms with the spiritual chiefs of the Christian, Buddhist, and Moslem
rdigions at Karakorum, whose courage he doubted, to surrender that city
on the approach of Khubilai, which they accordingly did. Khubilai
confirmed the privileges granted them by Ogotai and Mangu. Arikbuka
now had a considerable struggle with Algu and occupied a large part of
his dominions, but his cruelties so disgusted his soldiers that they went
over to Khubilai, and stripped of troops and resources he determined at
length in 1264 to submit to his brother. He prostrated himself, as was
customary, at the door of the Imperial tent. Having entered, and being
bathed in tears, he was addressed by Khubilai. " Well, my brother, which

* De Mailla, 1. 39X-394. t D'Ohtton, U. 351. I D'OhMon, ii. 331.

222 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

of we two have justice on our side ?" '* Formerly it was I, now it is you,"
was the reply of Arikbuka. The next day was appointed for the trial of the
latter and his chief supporters. He then confessed that he had been
•tempted to usurp the supreme authority by some of his generals, who
represented to him the remoteness of his brothers Khubilai and Khulagu
from the centre of authority, and the ease mth which it might be usurped.
Ten of the genelals were put to death, but the life of Arikbuka was spared
at the solicitation of his brother, a judgment which was acquiesced in by
Khulagu and Bereke. Arikbuka then did homage, but died a month
after, and was buried with his father Tului and his grandfather Jingis.
This was in 1266, and was followed directly afterwards by the deaths of
Khulagu, Bereke, and Algu, the chiefs of the three great dependencies of
the empire. Khubilai appointed Abaka to succeeded his father Khulagu in
Persia ; Mangu Timur, the grandson of Batu, was given the khanship of
the Golden Horde ; while the Horde of Jagatai was given to Mobarek
Shah, the son of Kara Hulagu.*

On the submission of Arikbuka, Kaidu, the representative of the house
of Ogotai, still held out, as I have already described in the former
chapter, and provoked a long and severe struggle in the north. Mean-
while Khubilai determined to subdue the portion of China still governed
by the Sung dynasty. We have already mentioned the treaty by which
Kia-se-tao, the Sung minister, agreed that his master should be tributary
to him, a treaty which he did not disclose to his master, and managed to
keep secret by having everybody put to death who was aware of it. In
1260 Khubilai sent an envoy to notify his accession to the throne, and to
announce that he wished the treaty fulfilling. This envoy was im-
prisoned ; upon which the Mongol chief issued a proclamation calling
attention to the bad faith of the Chinese and bidding his troops make
ready. His scheme was delayed by his war with Arikbuka and by the
revolt of one of his generals named Li-tan.t

Li-tan was a Chinese of considerable repute, and had been appointed
viceroy of Shang tung and the conquered parts of Kiang nan, with the
title of King of Thsi kiun, by the Mongol Khakan. He murdered the
Mongol soldiers who were with him, recalled his son, who was a student
at Kai ping fu, and having repaired the fortifications of Thsi nan and
Itu (Thsing chau fu), in Shang tung, he declared for the Sung. The
Mongol general Apichi was sent against him, and besieged him in Thsi
nan. The siege lasted for four months, during a portion of which the
garrison fed on himian flesh. In despair Li-tan killed his wife and
concubines, and then threw himself into a lake adjoining the city, but
was taken out alive and killed.}

« D'Ohsson, ii. 351-359. t De Mailla, ix. 298.

I Yttle's Marco Polo, ii. lOo. Pauthier't Marco Polo, 44«. Note. D'Ohtson, ii« 382.
Gaubil, X39.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 223

Early in 1263 Khubilai built a Tai miao, or Hall of Ceremonies, at
Yenking. This was meant for the ancestor-worship prescribed by
Chinese custom. He gave honorary titles to each of his ancestors,
beginning with Yissugei, who was styled Liei-tsu ; Jingis was styled
Tai-tsu ; Ogotai, Tai-tsong ; then Tului was interposed, with the title of
Juei-tsong. Although he had not occupied the throne, he was deemed as
the legal successor. Kuyuk came next, with the title of Ting-tsong ; and,
lastly, Mangu, with that of Hien-tsong. Each of them had a tablet,
with his name upon it, set up in a separate chamber, while the Lama
priests were ordered to recite prayers before them for seven days and
seven nights. This afterwards took place annually.*

The Mongols hitherto had used cither the Uighur or the Chinese
characters in writing their language.' Khubilai ordered the Lama Pakba,
whom he had so much honoured, to construct a special alphabet, so that
his people might be like those of the Liao and the Kin dynasties, who
each had a writing of their own. The Lama acquitted himself well, and
the new character was published in 1269, when Pakba received the title
ofTapaofa wang.^ About this time Lien hi hien, a faithful officer of
Khubilai, was disgraced. He had been required to submit to
the precepts of the Lama religion. He objected, saying that he had
always been a faithful disciple of Confucius, two of whose precepts were
directly at issue with the teaching of the Lamas, namely, that which pre-
scribed that subjects should be faithful to their sovereign, and another
that children should be obedient to their parents. Khubilai did not
gainsay this. Sometime after a Lama magician claimed to have discovered
a specific for immortality. He was encouraged by Khubilai. Lien hi
hien, on the other hand, raised strong objections to encouraging such
impostors, who, he said, had brought much evil on the State, and injured
the health of those Emperors who had been misled by them. Khubilai
was displeased with his frankness, and it became easy for those who had
become discontented through his integrity to intrigue against him. He
was exiled from the court. The chief of his enemies was one Ahama ,
(Ahmed), a native of the West, who had by his address raised himself to
considerable authority at the Mongol court. He was at the head of the
Imperial finances, and is described as a shrewd, artful, and crafty man,
with a persuasive manner and address. Under his control the treasury
was fiiU, but the people were oppressed, and he became almost supreme
in the empire. Khubilai was served by others, however, of greater
integrity. One of them called Hiu heng, was appointed head of the
Imperial college. He is praised for the tact and skill with which he
filled his office, in which he treated the opinions of the young
scholars with a respectful demeanour, as if they were older men, and
taught the young Mongols the various duties and ceremonies pre-

* De MailU, ix. 301. t De Mailla, ix.'sxx, 3x3.

224 HISTORY OP THE MONGOLS.

cribed by the Chinese moral classics ; the behaviour incumbent upon
intercourse with superiors, equals, and inferiors ; the precepts of
charity and humanity, &c. So famous did his system become that
his scholars were picked out for the more arduous duties of the State.
In 1 27 1 Khubilai gave his dynasty the Chinese name of Yuen, that is,
original or chief; he also chose a calendar name for the years of his reign.
He surrounded himself with learned men, founded a central academy for
the empire of the first literati, [and schools for the young in all the
provinces. He appointed a conmiission to write the history of the empire
and to reclaim the Mongols; he had some of the Chinese classics and an
abridgment of Chinese history and chronology translated into Mongol*
This was done by Hiu heng.* He encouraged the learned men of every
nation and creed. Jemal ud din, a Persian astronomer, drew out a
calendar and presented the Emperor with beautiful astronomical instru-
ments. Gaisui, from the kingdom of Fu-lin, f>., the Byzantine empire,
was the chief physician, while one of the chief mandarins was put at the
head of the bureau of mathematics. Khubilai appointed commissioners
to regulate the number, rank, and pay of the mandarins and the principal
offices of State, such as the Imperial censors, the ministers of rites, of
justice, of public works, of war, &c.

Let us now turn once more to the Sung empire, against which, as I
have said, Khubilai had long meditated a campaign. The Sung Emperor
Li tsong died in 1264 and was succeeded by his nephew Chaoki, who took
the name of Tu tsong. It was not till 1267 that Khubilai fairly began
his attack. The plan of the campaign was entrusted to a very noted
Chinese general called Liau-ching, who had deserted the Sung cause
and been appointed governor of Kuei chau, a town oh the frontier of
Hu kuang and Su chuan, by Khubilai. t He advised that they should
conmience with the siege of Siang-yang, called Saianfu by Marco Polo,
situated on the river Han, in Honan, and conunanding the great
military road from Shensi, decribed by Marco Polo as a very great
and noble city, ruling over twelve other large and rich cities. On the
opposite side of the river was the city of Fan ching. In October, 1268,
an army of 60,000 men sat down before and invested it, the lines
embraced a mountain three leagues from the city, while forts were built
on mountains to the south and east of it ; but meanwhile the river
was open, and a flotilla ^of Chinese vessels managed to re-victual the
place, a good many of the ships were afterwards captured and destroyed.
After a blockade of twelve months, it was found necessary to extend the
blockade to Fan ching, which communicated with Siang yang by several
bridges. The besieged were left to their own resources for some time by
the listless Kia-s6-tao, who kept the Sung Emperor ignorant of what was
going on. At length he sent an army under Fan-wen-hu to relieve

* De Mailla, iz. 320. t D'Ohsson, ii. 383.

^

KHUBILAI KHAN. 225

it. Its advance guard was cut to pieces by the Mongols, and the rest
of the army disbanded and fled. Khubilai also reinforced the besiegers,
and, according to Raschid, opened the prisons, and marched 20,000
criminals to assist in the siege. After an investment of four years the
city still held out, but they began to need salt, straw, and silk. A brave
plan of supplying these things was suggested by the Chinese governor
of Ngan lo ; he sent a flotilla of boats, three abreast, the centre one laden
with these articles, the outside ones filled with armed men: this broke
through the Mongol barriers and arrived safely.* Gaubil says the
Chinese took advantage of a flood, by which the Han overflowed its banks,
to re-victual the place, but that the relieving fleet was severely defeated
on its retum.t

After the siege had lasted three years, Khubilai by the advice of a Uighur
general called Alihaya, sent to his nephew Abaka, in Persia, for some
engineers skilled in making catapults, called mangonels by Marco Polo.
Two such engineers were sent to him, and they constructed machines which
threw stones of 125 Chinese pounds, or 166 pounds avoirdupois.} These
were placed before Fan ching, and made holes of seven and eight feet
deep in the walls ; a practicable breach was soon effected, and the city
was taken by assault after a stubborn defence, in which the Chinese
generals, as on many other occasions, died heroically. The defence was
carried on from street to street, and the victors captiured little more than
a pile of ruins. Gaubil has the quaint remark, that the long catalogue of
Chinese officers who distinguished themselves, may be interesting to
Chinese or Tartar genealogists, but would be dreary to a European.§
The catapults were now ranged before Siang yang, and the besieged were
terrified at the terrible pounding they gave the towers and walls, and
began to get discouraged. Khubilai offered them terms and praised
their gallant defence. Upon this they surrendered, and their brave
commander Liu-wen-hoan was made governor of the district of Siang
yang. Soon after this, in August, 1274, Tu-tsung, tlie Sung Emperor,
died, and was succeeded by his second son Chao-hien, who was only
four years old. Khubilai now issued another manifesto, in which he
recalled all his endeavours to preserve peace, and the constant bad faith
of the Sung authorities. He then organised two armies, one under
Tolohoan, and some subordinate officers were ordered to march towards
Yang chan, in Kiang nan ; while the other under Bayan and some other
generals was given the duty of conquering Hu kuang. The two armies
probably numbered 200,000 men. Bayan was the son of Gueukju, of
the Mongol tribe of the Barins; he had passed his younger days in Persia,
and had accompanied some ambassadors from Abaka a few years
previously. Khubilai was charmed with his merits, and in 1265 named

* De MailU, ix. 319, 325. t Op. cit., 149.

I G«Dbil, 155. Yule*! Marco Polo, ii. 121, et. Mq. S Op. cit., 136.

IF

228 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

defeat greatly discouraged them, and was followed by the surrender of
many towns of Kiang nan and Che kiang. Among other towns surren-
dered was Kien kang, the modern Nan king. Its governor, who wished
to die in the service of the Simg, took poison at a feast where he had
collected his friends and relatives. One of the Mongol officers found in
his house a memoir, addressed to Kia-se-tao, containing an elaborate plan
for opposing the Mongols. When this was shown to Bay an, he was
surprised, and said, " Is it possible the Sung had such a sage councillor
among them. If they had followed this advice we should not have been
here ; " and he ordered his family to be treated with respect, as that of a
faithfid subject. He prohibited the pillaging of his goods, and his body
was buried with those of his ancestors.*

The hot season was now at hand, and Khubilai wished Bayan to stop
operations till the autumn, but the latter rephed that it is not prudent to
allow your enemy breathing time when you have hold of his throat, a
sound piece of philosophy, which was justified amply ; for the successes
of the Mongols had created quite a panic among the governors of the
neighbouring fortresses, several of which, and among them the arsenal
of Kwang ti, in Kiang nan, were surrendered. t

The Empress Regent now issued a stirring proclamation, which
aroused the spirit of several military chiefs, and a few towns were retaken.
Hao king, the ambassador who had been sent to the Sung court to notify
the accession of Khubilai, had been all the while imprisoned. He vrzs
now, at the demand of Khubilai, released with his suite, but he fell ill
and died on the way. He was the author of several esteemed Chinese
works.t Khubilai sent another embassy, consisting of two of the digni-
taries of his court ; this was treacherously attacked near the fortress of
Tu-song, one of the envoys being killed and the other wounded. The
Sung court disavowed and promised to punish the assassins, and offered
to recognise the suzereignty of the Mongols. Bayan doubted the
sincerity of the proposals, and sent an officer under the pretext of treating
for peace, the real object being to survey the condition of Lin ngan,
the capital. He also was assassinated on the way. Bayan was naturally
enraged at so much perfidy, but he was recalled at this juncture to go
and make head against Kaidu.§

The Chinese now made an effort to recapture Wu-chang-fu, and
collected a large flotilla for the purpose, but Alihaya, the Mongol
governor of the town, a general of consummate ability, whose renown
was only second to that of Bayan, and who had done his duty admirably
during the late campaign, attacked them sharply, defeated them,
and captured their general, who had been governor of Yo chau. His
head was carried on a lance under the walls of that city, which surren-
dered at the first sunmions. Alihaya then attacked Kian ling, the chief

i

* De MaiUa, iz. 354. t D* Mailla, iz. 355. | De Maillm, ix. 353- S Vide infra.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 229

town of a large district in Kwang si. Its governor thought he had been
slighted by the Sung, surrendered the town, an example which was
followed by fifteen others in his jurisdiction. According to the usual
policy in such cases, the various Chinese governors retained their posts.
Alihaya was much complimented upon his success by the Emperor,
who wrote him an autograph letter to thank him.*

The southern part of Su chuan was then subject to the Sung ; its
governor was attacked and defeated by the Mongols ; and his capital Kia
ting invested. He then surrendered, and sent to them a detailed
account of the different places in his department, for which he was
rewarded by being reappointed governor. The final conquest of this
province was not effected, however, until 1278. Instead of profiting by
the absence of Bayan, the Chinese now proceeded to try their chief
minister, the notorious Kia-se-tao, to whom they owed so many misfor-
tunes. He was found guilty ; his goods were confiscated, and himself
transported to a place in Fukien, but he was murdered on the way by
one of his escort, who had an old grudge against him. He jeered him
for his cowardice in surviving his disgrace, instead of putting an end
to himself like a brave man. He put him to great indignity on the way,
made him walk in the scorching sun, and scattered his harem, sending
its members to their various homes. He pressed him hard to drown
himself in a river which they passed, and as he would not he at length
killed him. For this he was himself executed.t

A brave Sung general named Chang chi ki^ having equipped an immense
fleet of 10,000 vessels, proceeded with them along the Kiang, intending to
attack the Mongols who were stationed near Yang chau under the com-
mand of Atchu. The latter surveyed the flotilla from the summit of the
mountain Ch6 kong, north of Chin kiang, and made up his plans. He
placed 1,000 balistas on some of his heavy boats and ordered them to
fire burning arrows into the enemy's fleet. These set fire to the ships and
caused a general panic. Atchu captured 700 ships, and the greater part
of the Chinese force was disi>ersed.

Bayan now returned, after having been raised to the rank of minister of
State,} and arranged a fresh plan for the campaign. Atchu was to con-
tinue the war in Hoai nan, Alihaya in Hu nan, three other generals were
sent into Kiangsi, while he himself advanced upon Lin ngan, the Sung
capital On the way he attacked Chang chau, a famous town called
Chinginju by Marco Polo. This was early in 1275. Having beaten the
armies that came up to try and raise the siege, he destroyed the faubourgs
and then raised a rampart as- high as the wall, and took it in that way.
Marco Polo mentions that in the Mongol army was a body of Christian
auxiliaries ; they were Alans, and no doubt came from the Caucasus. The
inhabitants were spared, but the Alans having got drunk after they had

* Dc M aUU, ix. 399. Gaubil, 167. t De Mailla, iz.3 61. I De Mailla, ix. 361.

230 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

taken the city, were treacherously attacked and killed by the Chinese.
Bayan sent another army which destroyed the inhabitants without pity.*
Q^yan had in vain summoned it to surrender. He collected a large
number of people from the neighbourhood, whom he compelled to build a
vast rampart about it. The Chinese history makes him put a large
number of these people to death, use their fat to grease the battering
engines with, and bum their bodies. The defence was vigorously kept
up, and Bayan encouraged his soldiers by his presence. The town was
attacked on all four sides at once. It was captured, and, as I have said,
its inhabitants were slaughtered. The commander showed the usual
Chinese intrepidity, and refused to escape, t Colonel Yule remarks that
this use of human fat may have another explanation, for Carpino says
the Mongols mixed it with Greek fire, which then burnt unexting^ishably.t
The victorious Mongols captured one position after another, and the
Chinese court began to be very frightened. At Lin ngan, the capital, a
general call to arms was made for every one over fifteen, while a fresh envoy
was sent to Bayan with apologies for what had occurred to the envoy,
the whole being laid at the door of the perfidious Kia se tao, who had
been punished, and to the inexperience of the Emperor, who was only a
boy.§ An offer was made that the Emperor would ccmsider himself a
subject of the Khakan, and wotild pay an annual tribute of 250,000 ounces
of silver and the same number of pieces of silk. These terms were
refused, and Bayan continued his advance. Meanwhile the other armies
were equally successful. Ailhaya, who was in Hunan, «>., that part of
Hu kwang south of the great lake Tong ting hu, laid siege to Tan-chau
(Chang ch^). Some of the garrison wished to surrender, but its
governor, Lifu, answered that he had not been put in a position of trust
in order to resign it at the first crisis, and that he would without fail make
an end of those who spoke of surrendering. When the Mongols stormed
the walls, a Chinese officer who was there, brought out his two young
sons and made them undergo the ceremony of taking the bonnet>
equivalent to adopting the toga or the symbol of manhood (this is done
at the age of twenty). He then threw himself with them and with his
servants into the flames. Lifu ordered a libation of wine to be poured
out on the ground in their honour. Having made . sure of the
constancy of his officers, he summoned a slave, gave him a bag of money,
bade him save his, Lifu's, family from base servitude, and ordered him to
kill them and then to kill him, Lifu, himself. In vain the slave protested
against the revolting deed. He insisted. He thereupon made them
drunk and performed his duty. After which Lifu offered his own head,
which the slave cut off. The latter then fired the palace, returned home, .
destroyed his own family, and ended by stabbing himself. The greater

* Yule's Marco Polo, ii. 141.
t Pauthier's Marco Polo, 485. J Yule'i Marco Polo, ii. 242. i De Mallla, ur« 365*

KHUBILAI KHAN. 23 1

part of the garrison and inhabitants followed his example, the wells were
choked with corpses, others hanged, others again poisoned themselves,
and the Mongols entered an almost deserted city.* There is surely
something terribly faithful to a sense of duty and honour in such an
example. Object as we may to the code which prescribes such a test of
courage and devotion, enlarge as we may on the indifference to life
that is the supposed heritage of some races, we cannot refuse a respectful
admiration for the feeling which will not survive disgrace and dishonour.
It would surdy be a good discipline to our Western notions of duty if,
instead of bowing before and licking the dust from the feet of successful
villainy imder whatever pretentious name it lives, if we were to preach
that dishonour is not condoned by success, and can only be survived by
cowards and contemptible people.

The capture of Chang ch6 was followed by the surrender of the other
towns of Hu nan.

Meanwhile the Mongols were no less successful in Kiang si. Town
after town was surrendered or captured. One of them, Hoang wan tan,
was remarkable for the bravery of its commander. Mi yau. Despe-
rately wounded by four arrows and three lance thrusts, he still insisted in
rushing upon the enemy, but in crossing a bridge a plank broke under
him and he was captured. The Mongols wished him to enter their
service, and offered him one of their official seals. His son too pressed
him, recalling to him the miserable condition in which he himself would
be left. Appear only, said the hero, in the public square and say you are
the son of Mi yau, and every one will be eager to assist you. He then
disrobed and insisted upon beingput to death. This Mongol army, with that
of Alihaya now converged upon Lin ngan, where Bayan also arrived with
his troops. The Empress Regent sent him the Imperial seal as a
sign of submission. Bayan sent it on to the Khakan. Repeated
embassies were sent out to treat for terms, who did not forget the reminder
that the southern provinces of the empire were still unconquered, and that
the issue of war was not always certain. It would seem that the city was
quietly occupied. Bayan appointed a council of Mongols and Chinese to
govern it, and extracted from the Empress Regent an order to the various
provincial governors to submit to the Mongols. They all obeyed except
Kia-hiuen-hong, whom no threats could intimidate. Four Mongol
officials were ordered to collect the seals of the various departments, and
the books, registers, historical memoirs, geographical, and charts, &c.,
found in the archives. Having placed guards in different points of the
city, Bayan at the head of a splendid cortege, preceded by the great
standard and drums, and followed by his generals, made an entry in state.
The Emperor and Empress asked to see him, but he excused himself by
saying he did not know what ceremony he ought to observe, and left the

• De Mailla, ix. 368, 369*

232 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

following day. We are told that while in the city he had the curiosity to
go to the banks of the river Tsien-tang-kiang to watch the tide rise,
which it did so violently that it was mistaken for a white wall shattered
by a cannonade of artiller>'.» Marco Polo has left us an elaborate
account of the great capital. It has been most admirably noted by
Colonel Yule, from it I shall extract freely.

He makes the circuit of the walls to be one hundred miles ; Odoric
makes the same statement, while Vassaf makes it twenty-four parasangs,
which is nearly the same. Ibn Batuta makes its length to be three days'
journey. Raschid says its enceinte had a diameter of eleven parasangs,
and Colonel Yule shows that the circuit of the walls has progressively
diminished, and that it is probable that in the days of Polo its circuit,
exclusive of the suburbs, was one hundred li. Polo says that it contained
12,000 bridges. Colonel Yule calls this number a mere popular saw.
Vassaf makes the number 360. As the city was built amidst lagunes,
like Venice, the number may well have been 1,200. The size of the
bridges there is noted by modern travellers. Barrow, quoted by Marsden,
says some have the piers of such an enormous height that the largest
vessels of 200 tons sail under them without striking their masts. Polo
says there were twelve guilds of different crafts ; each guild had 12,000
houses in the occupation of its workmen. Each house contained
twelve, twenty, and even forty men. He also reports that every man was
bound to follow his father's trade, even if he owned 100,000 bezants, a
custom which Colonel Yule remarks is nowhere now found in China,
where it is very rare for a son to follow his father's trade. Inside the
city was a great lake, thirty li in circumference (the celebrated Si £u, or
Western Lake, described by Abulfeda, and by Barrow and others, who
all describe it as a Chinese paradise). It was surrounded with palaces
and grand mansions, having islands on it on which were pleasure-houses,
&c., where the inhabitants held their marriage feasts ; silver-plate,
trenchers and dishes, napkins, &c., being supplied to order. Sometimes
there would be a hundred parties there ; some holding a banquet, others
a wedding, &c. Most of the houses were built of timber, with stone
towers to store articles of value in, and thus protect them from the
frequent fires. The people dressed very gaily, most of them in silk.
(The inhabitants are still celebrated for their dandyism, everybody but
the lowest labourers and coolies wearing silk.) The Mongols placed a
guard upon each of the bridges ; each guard had a hollow stick, a metal
basin, and a time-keeper. With the stick he struck the basin at every
hour, one for the first hour, two for the second, &c. A section of these
watchmen patrolled about, arrested those wandering at unlawful hours,
and reported to the magistrates all lights and fires burning after lawful
hours. They removed cripples and others to the hospitals, of which

* De Mailla, ix. 373.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 233

there are still many there, as Mr. Gardner reports. They also acted as
iiremen at fires, for no citizen except the watchmen and the owners of the
property dare go out at night or approach a fire. There was also a high
watchtower in the city, in which a man beat violently on a slab of wood,
which resounded far and wide, when fires or other alarms broke out. All
its streets were paved with stone or brick, except the sides, which were
kept unpaved for the Imperial couriers to gallop along. Large covered
drains ran down the centre of the streets, and emptied themselves
into the canals. There were three thousand baths in the city,
large enough for one hundred persons to bathe together. They
were supplied with hot water. (Mr. Gardner says the natives always
take hot baths, but that only the poor go to the public baths, the
tradesfolk, &c., having them supplied at home.) The port was situated
twenty-five miles from the city, and was called Ganpu. This was
most probably the Kanfu frequented by the early Arab traders. The
Emperor's palace is described by Polo as the largest in the world. It
was surrounded by a demesne of the compass of ten miles, girdled
with embattled walls, inside which were beautiful gardens with fountains,
and lakes full of fish. The palace itself contained twenty great halls,
the largest of which was used as a State dining room, all painted in gold,
with histories and representations of beasts and birds, of knights and
dames, sustained by columns painted and wrought in gold, and the finest
azure. Besides these great halls, the palace contained 1,000 large
chambers, all painted in gold and colours. Altogether the city comprised
1,600,000 houses, among which were many palaces, and one Nestorian
church. Every burgess wrote at his door the name of each person, and
the number of animals inside, so that a census could be collected at once.
Every hosteller was bound to register the inmates of the house, so that
information could be found about all the travellers in the country. These
regulations are a sarcasm on our Western progress and civilization.
There were ten principal markets, besides a vast number of lesser ones,
the former all half-a-mile square ; along their front was a street forty
paces wide, which traversed the city from end to end, having a great
market at every four miles. Parallel with this street, and at the back of
the market, ran a canal, whose banks were lined with the merchants'
stores, from India, &c. Three days a week 40,000 or 50,000 assembled
at each of these markets, supplying abimdance of roebucks, red
deer, fallows, hares, rabbits, partridges, pheasants, francolins, quails,
fowls, capons, ducks, and geese. For a Venice groat of silver you might
buy a couple of geese and two couple of ducks. There were shambles
where calves, beeves, kids, and lambs were slaughtered. Among the
fruits displayed were enormous pears, weighing ten pounds each, with a
white and fragrant pulp, and yellow and white peaches of very delicate
flavour. No grapes were produced there, but very good raisins and wine
were import^ Their fish were of sundry kindsi and owing to the

334 HISTOKV OF THE MONGOLS.

impurities of the city, which passed into the lake, were remarkably fat
and savoury. The chief beverage drunk was made of rice and spices.
Some streets were occupied by handicraftsmen, others by physicians and
astrologers. In each great square were two palaces for the officers, who
superintended the traffic. To give a notion of the consumption of
provisions in this vast city, Polo mentions the article pepper, of which
forty-three loads, each of 223 lbs., were daily introduced. The lake was
covered with beautifully furnished flat bottomed boats, having nice cabins,
while the streets were supplied with vehicles shaped like palanquins, each
holding six. Colonel Yule says these public conveyances were generally
disused in China about the time when they were introduced into Europe.
Vassaf tells us that the salt excise brought in daily 700 balishs, in paper
money. The number of craftsmen may be guessed from the number of
dyers, which was 32,000. There were 700 temples. Polo calculates the
salt dues as bringing in yearly eighty tomans of gold, each toman being
worth 70,000 saggi of gold. Colonel Yule makes an elaborate calculation
of this amount, and values it at ;£2,633,333 sterling annually, while the
whole revenue of the province is put down at ;£ 147,000,000. He
concludes that the account of Polo is a great exaggeration, due
probably to his calculating the revenue in gold instead of paper money,
which would enlarge it by one-half.*

Lin ngan is the modem Hang chau fu, the capital of the province of
ChS kiang ; it was also called King ts6, i.e.. Imperial residence, because
the last nine Emperors of the Sung dynasty had lived there.t Having
described Lin-ngan, we will now continue our history.

The Empress Regent was not allowed to continue her parade of royalty
very long. Atahai, with several officers, entered the palace and
stopped the ceremonies which were practised in presence of the Emperor,
her grandson, who with his mother and a great company of grandees,
comprising the chief persons about the court, were despatched north-
wards to the court of Khubilai. Before leaving, the Emperor and his
mother, facing the north, went through the prescribed and humiliating
ceremony of prostating themselves seven times, and thus saluting their
conqueror, the Elhakan.} '

Some faithful adherents of the Sung dynasty raised a body of soldiers,
and attacked the Mongol escort in the town of Eua chau, but were
defeated. The Emperor was well received by Khubilai, but was deprived
of his rank, and given that of a Kong, or a prince of the third order,
with the title of Hiao-kong.§ The title of Empress was also erased from
the names of the Emperor's mother and grandmother. We are told that
Ehubilai's chief wife treated these ladies Mrith great attention and
tiumanity. The gold and silver and other treasures captured in the

* Yule's Marco Polo, ii. 135 -274. t D'Ohston, ii. 416. Note.

I Ganbil, 176. De MaiUa, iz. 376. % De Mailla, ix. 378.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 235

Kmperor's palace were conveyed by sea to Ta-tu or Peking. When the
Empress (the wife of Khubilai) saw it all laid out, she wept, and said
with some pathos she was thinking that the empire of the Mongols would
one day also ccnne to an end.

Two of the Sung Princes, brothers of the Emperor, had, on the siege
of Lin ngan, been sent for safety into the South. On arriving at
Wen chau they passed the ruins of a temple called Kiang sin, and in it
the throne where the Emperor Kaotsong had been seated when he, like
them, had been forced to find shelter in the South. The chief attendants
about the young princes caused the elder to mount this, and declared him
Governor General of the Empire.* The chief cities of Fu-kien were at
this time on the point of surrendering to the Mongol general Hoang wan
Un. The arrival of the princes raised the spirits of the inhabitants.
They rose and drove them out, and soon after I wang was proclaimed
Emperor at Fu chau, the capital of the province, whose name was
changed to Fu ngan fu. He was then nine years old. The title of Toan
tsoog was given to him, while that of his captive brother was changed
from Kuang wang to Wei wang.t A great levy of troops was made, and
the chief conmiand given to Wen tien siang, who had escaped from the
Mongols.

Yang chau, one of the chief towns of Kiang nan, still held bravely
out In vain the Mongols sent their summonses to surrender, counter-
signed by the Empress Regent. Its intrepid commander replied that the
only order he knew was to defend the place which had been confided to
him, and he put to death the successive envoys who brought him promises
of pardon and offers of good terms. Having heard that I wang had
been proclaimed Emperor, he quitted the city with 7,000 men for Tai
chau, intending to embark there for Fu chau. No sooner was he gone
than the town surrendered. He and his men were sharply pursued, lost
ipoo of their number, and were again invested in Tai chau. The
commander of the latter town treacherously admitted the Mongols, and
the intrepid Li-ting-tchi, who was prostrated by a tumour in his leg, was
captured. As he refused to submit or to pass into the service of Khubilai,
he was put to death. Atchu, the Mongol commander, was now recalled
to fill some post at the Mongol court, and Bayan, his superior officer,
published an eulogium on him.^

Kue lin fu, the capital of Kwang si, was governed by Ma-ki, a man of
similar courage to Li-ting-tchi. Its walls were protected by rivers,
exc^t on one side, where the garrison concentrated its defence. The
Mongols followed an old plan ; they turned aside the rivers, and rushed
across their dry beds upon the city. Ma-ki defended the town street by
Mtsettf but it was at length captured, and its inhabitants put to the sword.
The Mongols divided into various bodies, and captured the different

• De If aiUa, is. 379- t Dt MailU, ix. 380. ; Oaubil, x8o.

236 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

towns of Kwang si.* Meanwhile they had been equally successful in
Kwang tung, where a wealthy Chinese named Hiong-fei had raised an
army. The Mongol commander Alihaya sent some troops against him ; he
made a show of submission, and was entrusted with the command of the
two towns Chao chau and Hoei chau ; but he proved treacherous, rejoined
the side of his old masters, was defeated, and sheltered himself in Chao
chau, which having been surrendered to the enemy, he fought his way
from street to street, and ended by drowning himself. Other disasters
followed.

Among those who deserted the Sung at this crisis was Pu-chau-keng,
who for thirty years had superintended the merchant shipping at Siuen
chau, and who had amassed a considerable fortune. The Sung Emperor,
with the Imperial fleet, having arrived in that port, the merchants refused
to supply them with provisions, upon which a raid was made upon their
ships, in which raid some of the property of Pu-chau-keng was captured.
He collected a body of his followers, attacked the pillagers, and even
compelled the Imperial fleet to set sail again. Fearful of being punished,
he retired to Chao chau, in Kwang tung, and soon after joined the
Mongols.!

Bayan had been recalled by Khubilai to make head against his enemies
in the North. A large portion of the Mongol army now followed his steps.
Those who remained behind were left in command of Li heng. The
Sung employed the opportunity in recapturing several towns in the
southern provinces. Khubilai organised a fresh campaign, and early in
1 278 several of these towns were again recaptured. Among the new successes
was the capture of Canton and of Chao chau. The young Emperor,
Toan tsong, had not a port where he could land. He wandered about
with his fleet from one place to another, and at length died on the desert
island of Kang chau, in May, 1278, at the age of eleven. His chief
officers now proclaimed his younger brother Wei-wang, Emperor ; under
the title of Ti ping, and saluted him on their knees.

The Chinese fleet, which is said to have been manned by 200,000
combatants, was anchored at the island of Ysu, in the Gulf of Canton.
They built a wooden palace on the island for the Emperor, and worked
assiduously at refltting their ships, receiving supplies, &c., from Canton
and other cities, even from those subject to the Mongols.

Chang-hong-fan, the son of the celebrated general Chang ju, now
pressed upon Khubilai the necessity of a vigorous campaign in Kwang
tung to terminate the war. Having been girt with a jewelled sword and
made commander-in-chief, he attacked the Sung army, which had latterly
recovered several positions in that province, and Anally crushed it. The
redoubtable Wen tien siang was among the captured. He had tried to
poison himself, unsuccessfully. A subordinate general had shown even

* De If ailU, 317, et. Mq. t De Mailla, ix. 387. ] De MaiUa, ix. 394.

KHUBILAI KHAK. 237

greater fortitude, and had tried to pass himself off as Wen tien siang,
hoping that the Mongols would execute him, and that his friend would
thus escape ; but his deception was discovered, and he was broiled over
a slow fire. Wen tien siang himself demanded to be put to death, but
the generous Mongols spared him, and although he would not enter their
service they set him free.* Chang hong fan now collected a fleet and
proceeded against the Chinese flotilla, which was anchored at the estuary
Chao Yang.t He flrst tried to burn it by means of Are ships, but the
Chinese commander protected his ships by covering the hulls and rigging
with mud and putting out beams which staved ofl" the Are boats. The
Mongols then made a night attack with their fleet. This was not
successful, nor was a second venture of a similar kind ; but at length a
more determined effort was made. The Mongol fleet was divided into
several divisions, which made a simultaneous attack to the sound of
martial music, and assisted by a high tide and a storm, the crowded
Chinese armament was thrown into confusion. The young Emperor was
on board the largest ship, which was jammed in by the rest, and too big
to swim over the shallows. Seeing no hope of escape, Lu siu fu, one of
the two chief ministers, having thrown his wife and children overboard,
seized hold of the Emperor, and saying that a Sung Emperor ought to
prefer death to capitulation, he jumped overboard with him. Both were
of course drowned. The greater part of the Chinese officers followed his
example. More than Soo ships fell into the hands of the Mongols, and
the sea was laden with corpses, t

The Emperor's body was eventually found and upon it the Imperial seal.
Chang chi ki6, the co-regent of the empire, escaped ; having joined the
Empress mother, he pressed her to choose some member of the family
of Chao (Chao was the family name of the Sung Emperors) to put upon
the throne, but she was so overcome with grief by the news she threw
herself into the sea. Having buried his mistress on the shore he went
towards Chen ching (Ton kin),§ where he got some forces together with
which he set out to return to Canton. He was overtaken by a storm,
refused to land, and mounting the deck, he burnt some incense, and
addressing the heavens, said : " I have done my best to support the
throne of the family of Chao ; on the death of one of its princes I pro-
claimed another ; and, do I still survive, O heaven ! have I acted contrary
to thy will in seeking to place on the throne another prince of this family?"
The wind still rose, the ship foundered, and with it the faithful officer,
whose body was afterwards recovered and buried on the shore. || Thus
ended the dynasty of the %Sung which had been on the throne for alto-
gether a period of 320 years, and thus the Mongols, after a struggle of
half a century, became masters of all China.

* De M«ilU, ix. 395. Gaubil. 187. t De Mailla, ix. 396. I De MailU, ix. 395-J97*

CimbU, 188. S De Mtilla, ix. 399. Q De Mailla. ix. 399, 40a Gaubil, 1894

236 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

After the great naval fight near the island of Yai, the Mongol admiral,
Chang hong fan, gave a banquet to the various officers, to which Wen
tien siangwas invited, "the Sung empire is destroyed; you who have been
its bravest general and most faithful minister may now employ the same
zeal in the service of our sovereign." He refused, and was respected for
doing so by the Mongol, who sent him to Yen king. The Mongol
minister there pressed him to join his master^s service; he replied that the
oath of fealty bound a subject for ever to the cause of his sovereign.
When told that he had forsaken his Emperor when imprisoned, and
helped to replace him by his brothers; he replied, in effect, that necessity
knows no law, that it was better to choose the lesser of two evils, and
that it was necessary above all things in the crisis they were passing
through to preserve the Sung dynasty, whose continuity and existence was
destroyed when the young Emperor was captured ; a subject ought to
feel for his sovereign the affection of a son for his father ; one cannot
control events always ; what heaven decrees must be ; and he demanded
to be put to death. Chang hong fan, who was irritated by his continued
constancy, asked for his death ; but Khubilai intervened to save him,
truly a perfect model of fidelity.*

In 1280 Alihaya had captured a great number of prisoners in the
southern provinces of King nan, Kiang si, Kwang si, &c. These had been
sold as slaves, but Khubilai set them at liberty. He now despatched the
mathematician Tuchi to trace the great river Hoang ho to its sources.
He accomplished the task in four months, and on his return presented a
memoir on its course, which is given by Mailla.t

The Mongol Khakan now turned his arms against the Japanese. J^^ian
is a Chinese name, derived from the position of the island towards the
rising sun. J^ meaning sun, and pen origin or rising.^ So early as
1266, Khubilai had sent the following letter to the J^^anese sovereign.
"The most powerful rampart between small countries and their strong
neighbours is peace between their sovereigns. This political axiom,
supported by long experience, becomes most certain when it refers to the
weak neighbours of an empire such as I have received from my ancestors,
which is especially favoured by heaven. I am now master of China. A
crowd of kingdoms filled with fear and respect by the renown and virtue
of my ancestors, have submitted to my laws, notwithstanding thdr
distance. When I mounted the throne the Coreans were suffering^^m a
disastrous war that had lasted for a long time ; the cries of a crowd of
innocent victims having reached me, I caused hostilities to cease^ restored
the land which the Mongols had conquered firom them, and
returned the prisoners they had captured. The Corean King, whom we
number among our subjects, touched by our generosity,- came to theifoet
of our throne to do homage. I in return covered him ¥^h /arears,

* De MaiUa, ix^ 404* t Op. cit.i ix. 404* 403. I De ICaillm, it. 404*

KHUBILAI KUAN. 239

detennined to treat him rather as a father than as an emperor and
matter. Yoa lad your people have surely heard of this. Corea is close to
Japan. Since the foundation of your kingdom you have constantly
trafficked with China. How is it you have never sent any one to my
court since I came to the throne. Have you not heard of my accession.
I have sent you two officers to remind you of this and to secure a mutual
friendship and a regular correspondence, which will be the bond of a
lasting peace. The wise men who are about me tell me that all men are
brothers, the universe consists of but one family, and how can useful rules
or good laws be upheld in a family where there is discord ? Woe to
those who love confusion and wish for war ; O King, think of this, you
and your people."

The envoys who bore this letter proceeded to Corea, when they reached
the coast the Coreans enlarged so much upon the dangers that were
before them that they detennined to return to China,* Two years later,
!>., in 1268, Khubilai began to prepare for a descent upon Japan, he
ordered the Coreans to furnish a flotilla, and made inquiries as to the best
route for his troops.t

In 1274 he sent a fleet of 300 ships and 15,000 men, which was defeated
near the island of Tsiusima with heavy loss. He again sent envoys in
1280, but they were put to deaths The Sung empire having been
destroyed, the Mongols now had leisure to prepare on a larger scale to
punish their refractory neighbour ; 100,000 men were collected, and the
command given to Alahan or Argan, Fan wen hu (the Van sain chin of
Marco Polo), &c. Ai;gan died at the port of embarkation and his place
Mras taken by Atahai or Atagai (Abacan of Polo).

These troops were embarked at Zayton and Kinsay.§ Zayton is
Thstuan diau fii, or Chin chau in Fukien ; || and Kinsay (in Chinese Kin
Bse, or the court) is the town of Hang chau fu, in Che kiang.f They first
proceeded to Corea, where they were joined by a contingent of 900 ships
and 10,000 men. The combined forces sailed for the island of Goriosan,
where the troops landed and overran the open country. Marco Polo
refers to a quarrel between the two generals in command, which much
impeded the campaign. Meanwhile the fleet was driven by a fierce storm
upon a small island called Ping hu.** The greater part was destroyed.
The Japanese account says that " the general (i>., Fan wen hun) fled
with the other generals on the vessels that had least suffered ; nobody has
ever heard what became of them.'' By one writer, who has written a book
to prove his marvellous theory, this last army is made the founder of the
Peruvian monarchy of the Incas. Mongo Capac being identified with the
Mongol general ! ! ! ft .The army left upon the island was attacked and
defeated, and 30,000 captives were put to death.tt

• De If aillR, is. 3^303. t De MailU, 308, 309. ; Yule't If arco Polo, ii. 305.

iVal«*slf«co Polo, U. 900. I Vule'o Marco Polo, U. 188. H De IMU. ii. 4x0. Note.

«* Do If ailla. Is. 409. It Raakiae'a Conqueat of Pern. H ViUe'a Marco Polo, ii. 207.

240 HISTOKV OF TH£ MONGOLS.

The Venetian traveller has a stor)', which is doubted by his learned
editor, to the effect that the Mongols surprised and captured the Japanese
fleets on which they sailed to the capital, which they also captured ; and
says that it was after being besieged there in turn for seven months that
they at length surrendered. This story is unconfirmed, and looks much
like a Chinese invention to throw a halo round the disaster.

Gaubil makes the invading force to consist of 70,000 Chinese and
Coreans and 30,000 Mongols. He says the former were all put to death,
while the latter were reduced to slavery.* The Chinese annals in De
Mailla state that only 12,000 or 13,000 Southern Chinese were spared,
and they were reduced to slavery.!

Khubilai determined to send a second expedition to revenge this
disaster. He appointed Atagai to its command. Vessels were built
and sailors pressed at the different ports, and the King of Corea was
ordered to furnish a contingent of 500 ships. The expedition was very
unpopular. The men deserted in bodies and took to brigandage, and it
had eventually to be abandoned. J

Notwithstanding the overthrow of the Sung dynasty, several rebels
arose, especially in Fu-kien, under pretence of sustaining its cause.
These were vigorously put down.}

At the end of 1280, a commission, headed by a celebrated astronomer
named Eochauking, issued a grand work on astronomy. Already
in the reign of Jingis, Yeliu chutsai had profited by that monarch's
expedition in the west to acquire many new notions, and had pub*
lished a new astronomy, and at the beginning of Khubilai's reign,
the western astronomers (probably Persians are meant) published two
astronomies, one according to the western method, the other according
to the Chinese. Eochauking and his assistants, who had deeply studied
western methods, reconciled the two systems. A great number of new
instruments, astrolabes, armillary spheres, gnomons, &c., were manufac-
tured. Fresh observations were made at twenty-seven stations ; the
meridians were revised and reduced to one standard ; and other reforms
were made. The results were then presented to the Emperor with a
memoir. II

In 1 28 1 ELhubilai lost his favourite wife Honkilachi. She was of a
tender disposition, and doubtless tempered considerably the weight of
the Mongol arms. When the young Sung Emperor was taken in triumph
to the court, she was much depressed ; Ehubilai was somewhat piqued,
and asked the reason. From early times, she said, there has been no
Imperial family which has lasted 1,000 years, and who dare say that I
and my children may not have to suffer the fate of this boy. When the
Imperial treasures of the Sung were spread out, she only peeped at them

Gaubil, X9S. t De Mailla, ix. 409. ; De Mailla, ix. 4x8 and 418.

§ De Mailla, ix. 406, 407. jj De Mailla, ix. 408. Gaubil, 192.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 24I

and then retired. The Sung, she said, Kave brought these together for
their descendants. We have got them only because those descendants
could not protect them. How dare I take the least thing. She also busied
herself in nursing the Empress Regent of the Sung, whose health suffered
from the severity of the Mongol climate.* Later in the year, the assessor
of the Emperor's Privy Council presented a petition against the sect of
Tao se. Khubilai, who was much attached to the Buddhist religion,
easily granted permission to have the Tao se books burnt.

The greed of conquest with which the Chinese historians charge
Khubilai was still upon him, or perhaps rather, as the Russians have
found in our day, there are few boundaries in Asia, and conquest leads
to further conquesty> so long as the march-lands of the empire are
occupied by turbulent tribes.

In 1 27 1 the Mongol commander in southern Yunnan had sent envoys
to the King of Mien (/.^., of Burma), calling upon him to become
tributary .t Some negotiations ensued, his letters to the Emperor being
traced, we are told, on golden leaves ; they also employed paper and the
leaves of trees for this purpose.

The issue of this correspondence was not pacific, for the Burmese
crossed the frontier of Yunnan in 1277, in order to fortify the posts of
Theng yue and Yung chang (the Vocian of Marco Polo),} which probably
commanded the approach to their country. The Chinese conmnanders
in Yunnan, among whom Nasir-ud-din, mentioned by Marco Polo, was
one, although he did not fill the first position, § ordered an attack to be
made on certain frontier tribes as yet unsubdued, namely, the Kinchi
(tribes with golden teeth), the Ho chang, Fu piao, and Theng yue,
whose country lay west of Yung chang. The Burmese forces under their
general OTio, were assembled in the country of Nan-tien, on the frontiers
of Thibet, and west of Yung chang, and consisted of from 40,000 to 50,000
men, 800 elephants, and 10,000 horses. The army of the Mongols is
said in the official annals of the Yuen dynasty to have been only 700
strong. This is clearly a mistake, and ought probably to be 7,000.
Marco Polo, who describes the battle, makes the Mongols 12,000 strong,
and their opponents 60,000 cavalry and infantry, with 2,000 elephants,
each carrying sixteen men, so that the disparity is equally great. He
calls the King of Burma King of Mien and Bangala. Colonel Yule has
shown that the Burmese dynasty probably claimed to rule in Bengal after
the Muhammedan invasion, and that they were descended from a Bengal
stock.] The Mongols were encamped in the plain of Yung chang, and
the troops of Burma came to attack them, the cavalry advancing first,
then the elephants, and lastly the foot soldiers.^ Marco Polo relates how

* De Mailla, ix. 408. t PauUiier's Marco Polo, 415. Note.

I Panthier, op. cit, 410. f Vale's Marco Polo, ii. 69.

I Ynle'a Marco Polo, ii. 64, 63. Ii The Yuen se, quoted by Pauthier, op. cit., 411.

IH

242 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

the Mongol horses were frightened at the elephants, and could not be
made to face them. " But their captain acted hke a wise leader, who had
considered everything beforehand. He immediately gave orders that
every man should dismount, and tie his horse to the trees of the forest
that stood hard by, and that they should take to their bows, a weapon
that they knew how to handle better than any troops in the world. They
did as he bade them, and plied their bows stoutly, shooting so many
shafts at the advancing elephants, that in a short space they had
wounded or slain the greater part of them, as well as of the men they

carried When the elephants felt the smart of these arrows that

pelted them like rain they turned and fled, and nothing on earth would
have induced them to turn and face the Tartars. So off they sped, with
such a noise and uproar, that you would have trowed the world was
coming to an end ; and then, too, they plunged into the wood, and
rushed this way and that, dashing their castles against the trees, bursting
their harness, and smashing and destroying everything that was on them.
.... The Tartars then got to horse at once, and charged the enemy.
And then the battle began to rage furiously with sword and mace."* The
Mongols at length won,fand pursued the troops of Burma a long way, and
captured 200 elephants. The Chinese account says the carnage was
terrible, that the limbs of the elephants and men who had been slain
filled three large ditches, and that seventeen forts which the Burmese had
built for the defence of their territory were captured.! In this campaign,
which was fought in 1277, Nasir-ud-din advanced as far as the town of
Kiang thu, on the Irawadi, which ofi'ered a stout resistance ; the
intense heat of the climate at length compelled him to retreat? Nasir-
ud-din having reported at the court that the conquest of the kingdom of
Mien would be easy, an army was fitted out in 1283, under the command
of Siang taur, a prince of the blood, who, as Colonel Yule says, was
doubtless the Singtur who some years later took part in the insurrection
of Nayan. The army set out from Chung khing, />., Yun nan fii, the capital
of Yunnan of our day. They embarked in boats on the river Oho {? the
Bhamo river), and arrived at Kiang thu (probably the Kaun taung of the
Burmese). § This they captured, and there perished there more than
10,000 men. II

The Mongols then summoned the King to submit. He refused ; upon
which they laid siege to his capital, Tai kung,^ i,e,, Tagaung, traditionally
the most ancient royal city of Burma. •» The Burmese annals, which are
much given to exaggeration, say the King had pulled down 6,000 temples
to furnish materials for the fortifications : " But after all he lost heart,
and, embarking with his treasure and establishments on the Irawadi, fled

* Yule's Marco Polo, ii. 66 and 68.

f Pauthier, op. cit., 411. I Pauthier, op. cit., 4x5. ^ Yule's Marco Polo, ii. 69 and 74.

I Pauthier, 416. % Pauthier's Marco Polo, 405. •* Yule, op. cit., ii. 76.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 243

down that river to Bassein, in the Delta." Having captured the Burmese
capital, the Mongols continued the pursuit till they reached the place
now called Tarokmau, or the Chinese Point, thirty miles below Prome.
Here they were forced by want of provisions to return.* De Mailla says
further, that the people of Kin-chi, who had hitherto been prevented
by the Burmese from acknowledging the Mongols, now did so. Kin-chi,
or golden teeth, is the Chinese name of the Zardandan of Marco Polo,
and probably connotes the Singphos, a tribe of Yunnan and Assam.t
The Pegu annals also mention a raid made into their territory by the
Mongols, and the capture of several towns at this time.+

The old Venetian traveller has a very romantic story about the
conquest of Burma ; he would have us believe that it was effected by the
gleemen and jugglers at Khubilai's court, of whom he had a great number.
" He said to them one day that he wanted them to go and conquer the
aforesaid province of Mien, and that he would give them a good captain
to lead them, and other good aid. And they replied that they would be
delighted. So the Emperor caused them to be httec} out with all that an
army requires, and gave them a captain and a body of men-at-aiins to
help them; and so they set out and marched until they came to the
country and province of Mien, and they did conquer the whole of it."§
This is one of the few paragraphs which would be nautically described
as yams that enliven the pages of the very truthful old traveller.

At his accession Khubilai had intrusted the Imperial finances to a
Muhanmiedan, a native of Bokhara, named Seyid Edj^ll. He had died
in 1270, leaving a high reputation for honesty. He was replaced by
Ahmed, a native of Fenaket, on the Jaxartes. He had been attached to
the household of Khubilai's chief wife before she married him, and by his
insinuating manners and tact had won the confidence of the Khakan.|| 1
have already mentioned his oppression of the people. As he kept the
coffers full Khubilai was satisfied,, and we are told that no person, however
high in rank, dare cross him, nor was any woman of considerable beauty
safe from his advances. If she was unmarried he forced her to be his
wife, otherwise he compelled her to submit to his desires. Marco Polo
quaintly describes his manner of procedure. " Whenever he knew of any
one," he says, " who had a pretty daughter, certain ruffians of his would
go to the father and say, * What say you ? Here is this pretty daughter
of yours ; give her in marriage to the Bailo Achmath (for they called him
' the Bailo,' or as we should say the * vice regent '), and we will arrange
for his giving you such a government, or such an office, for three years.'
And so the man would surrender his daughter. And Achmath would go
to the Emperor and say ; such a government is vacant, or will be vacant
on such a day. So and so is a proper man for the post, and the Emperor

* Yale, op. cit., ii. 76. t Yule's Mmrco Polo, ii. 56.

I Ynle's Marco Polo, il. 76. ^ Yule*8 Marco Polo, ii. 73. 0 D'Ohnoo, ii. 467.

244 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

would reply : * Do as you think best/ and the father of the girl was
immediately appointed to the government. Thus either through ambition
of the parents, or through fear of the minister, all the beautifiil women
were at his beck either as wives or mistresses." His twenty-five sons
occupied places of high trust, and he had amassed a vast fortune from the
black mail he levied on place hunters.* But his enemies were increasing
fast, and his day was nearly over. Tsui yu, one of the mandarins who
governed in Kiang nan, who was also a lieutenant of Alihaya, was brave
enough to present a report to the Emperor against him. Ahmed in a rage
accused him of embezzling more than two millions, and of having wrong-
fully deprived mandarins of their offices. A commission was sent to
inquire, which found him innocent. Ahmed sent a second, composed of
his own creatures, who convicted and executed him. This judicial mur-
der caused much dissatisfaction at the court, in the army, and the pro-
vinces.t Among his enemies was Ching kin, Khubilai's son, who went
the length of kicking him in his father's presence. At length one Chen
chu, a commander of a thousand, whose mother, daughter, and wife had
been dishonoured by Ahmed, entered into a plot with Wang chu, the
conunander of a tuman, i.e,y 10,000 men, and determined to destroy him.
They chose the time when the Emperor was at Shangtu, and the Prince
Ching kin absent elsewhere, and when Ahmed remained in charge of the
city. They communicated their intention to their friends in various cities,
stating that they had determined, on a certain day, at a signal given by a
beacon, to massacre all the men with beards, and that the other cities
should stand ready to do the like on seeing the signal fires. The reason
being, that the Chinese had no beards, while beards were worn by the
TarUrs, Saracens, and Christians, ** and you must know," says Polo, "the
Chinese detested the Grand Khan's rule, because he set over them gover-
nors who were Tartars, or still more frequently Saracens, and these they
could not endure, for they were treated by them just like slaves. . . .
On the day appointed, the two, Chen chu and Wang chu, entered-the palace
at night. Wang chu sat down and caused a number of lights to be
kindled before him. He then sent a messenger to Ahmed, who lived in
the old city, as if to summon him to the presence of Ching kin, who (it
was pretended) had arrived imexpectedly. Ahmed obeyed the summons.
As soon as he got inside the palace and saw all the illuminations, he
bowed down before Wang chu, supposing him to be Ching kin, and Chen
chu, who was standing ready with a sword, straightway cut his head off.
The captain of the guard, who was standing at the door, shouted treason,
and instantly discharged an arrow at Wang chu and shot him dead as he
sat, at the same time he ordered Chen chu to be seized, and sent a pro-
clamation through the city that any one found in the streets would be put
to death. The Chinese saw that the plot was discovered, and having

* Yule'i Marco Poloi i. 371. t Gaobil, 193* De MaUl«« is. 411.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 245

lost their leaders^ remained quiet. Messengers were sent off to Khubilai,
who ordered an investigation, which ended in several of the ringleaders
being put to death."* I have followed the account, and partially the
language of the Venetian traveller whose narrative of the event is very
circumstantial. His Chen chu is doubtless the Chang-y of the Chinese
annalsi who name a third conspirator, a sorcerer called Kao-Hoshang.
They also say Ahmed was killed by a blow from a copper mace. They do
not mention any plot for the murder of foreigners, although from what we
know of them in later times, this is a very probable event. Neither do they
mention that Wang chu was killed on the spot. They say, on the contrary,
that he died heroically; saying that he had done the State great service
and would yet be rewarded. Khubilai gave a large sum towards paying
for Ahmed's funeral ceremonies ;t but his regret was soon converted into
resentment. When he returned from Shang tung he summoned Polo, the
assessor of the privy council, our old friend Marco Polo, and asked him
why Wang chu had committed the murder. Polo spoke bravely out, and
when Khubilai learnt how avaricious his servant had been, and had even
appropriated for the use of one of his wives a large diamond which some
merchants had brought to his court for him, he ordered the corpse to
be exhumed, the head to be cut off and exposed, and the body to be Icfl
CD the dogs. Two of his sons and some of his widows were put to death ;
others, to the number of forty, with 400 concubines, were distributed as
presents.^ Two hundred mandarins, who had been Ahmed's accomplices,
were deprived of their offices, and altogether 700 persons were more or
less implicated and punished accordingly. Polo concludes his chapter by
saying that these discoveries greatly irritated Khubilai against the
Saracens, i>., the Muhammedans, and he prohibited them doing many
things ^hich their religion required. Thus he ordered them to regulate
their marriages by the Tartar law, and forbade them killing animals by
cutting their throats. This partial revival of one of Jingis*s laws is also
referred to by Raschid. It was revoked seven years later, when it was
found the Muhammedans gave over making their visits, and trade
accordingly sufrered.S Ahmed's place was given to a Uighur named
Sanga, whose brother had succeeded Pakba as Grand Lama.||

One of Sanga's chief advisers, who was also a favourite of Khubilai's,
was a mandarin of Tai ming fii, named Luchiyong ; he had obtained his
post by bribery, from Ahmed. He persuaded the Emperor that he could
largely increase the revenue, and those who inveigled against him and
his plans were punished. His suggestions were at least curious : he
proposed that a large number of copper pieces should be coined, that
these should be distributed to the inhabitants of the great ports of Hang
chau and Tsuen chau, to be used in traffic with the foreign merchants,

• TqIc's Marco Polo, i. 37a-374- t D'Ohsaon, ii. 470. De MailU, ix. 4x3.

I D'Ofanoo, ii. 471. i Yule's Marco Polo, i. 376, 377. | De Mailla, ix. 423.

246 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

and that seven-tenths of the profit should go the State, while three-tenths
were retained by the people. The grandees, it would seem, had some
kind of monopoly in the manufacture of arms ; this he proposed to
abolish, and to let the State take possession of the forges, the profit to be
used in filling the granaries, so that food could be sold at a cheaper rate.
He wished to abolish free trade in wine, and make the vendors take out
licenses, for which they were to pay heavily. He proposed to exchange
on a large scale, the silks and stuffs of China for the horses and sheep of
the Mongols, and arranged that the Imperial studs and herds should be
taken charge of by the Mongols, who should be paid one-fifth of the
profit accruing from the sale of the hides, wool, horns, and milk, &c. These
plans do not seem very extravagant, but they were very unpopular,
especially so, perhaps, as their author reinstated a good many of the
creatures of Ahmed in their old places. The heir to the throne took part
against him ; several mandarins accused him of exactions and cruelty,
&c., and he also was tried, condemned to death, and torn in pieces.*

Cochin China, called by the Chinese Chen ching, and by Marco Polo,
Champa, comprised at this time the whole coast between Tung king and
Cambodja. It was conquered by the King of Tung king in the fifteenth
century; but in the time of Khubilai was an independent kingdom. In
1278, So-tu, the military governor of the Canton district, sent an
envoy to demand the submission of its King. This was rendered,
and for some years he sent his tribute. Marco Polo says the tribute
consisted of twenty elephants. When, in 1282, So-tu sent a resident and
Chinese official, to receive tribute, &c., the heir to the throne resolutely
opposed the proceeding ;f but the Mongol officers were content with the
submission of the father, until he drew a large party over to himself. It
was then time to interfere. So-tu therefore sent an army, which captured
the capital. The prince took refuge in the mountains, and cajoled So-tu
into delay by his envoys. Meanwhile he was fortifying himself, while
one of his officers fell upon a body of Mongols and killed several
hundred of them. So-tu fought several engagements in which he was
successful, but while he was besieging an almost impregnable fortress,
the prince of Cochin China cut off his retreat. So-tu raised the siege
and managed to retire, but only with severe loss.} Khubilai was much
pained by this defeat, and in 1284 he ordered his son Togan, who
conmianded in Yunnan, to march against Cochin China ; the general So-tu
received orders to co-operate with him. Between Yunnan and Cochin
China lay Tung king, which had for some time been tributary, and had sent
every three years a tax of gold, silver, precious stones, medicinal drugs,
ivory, and rhinoceros' horns. This tribute was found very onerous, and
a new king, who mounted the throne in 1277, determined to resist the

* De Mailla, ix. 433, 424. Gaubil, aox, aoi.
t Yole'i Marco Polo, ii. 1x4. I De Mailla, ii. 4x5. Caubil, i^.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 247

passage of the Mongol army. Togan crossed the river Fu leang on
rafts, and the army of Tung king dispersed, but they rallied again the
summer following. The heat and heavy rains caused a pestilence among
the Mongols, who were forced to retire into Yunnan. Liheng, Togan's
chief general, was killed by a poisoned arrow, and So-tu, who had gone
some distance ahead with his army, shortly after lost a battle on the
Kien moan, in which he was killed.*

Astrology was much favoured by Chinese philosophers. A regular
college of astrologers existed, in which the various conjunctions of the
planets, eclipses, &c., were studied and interpreted. In the end of 1282,
a bonze of the province of Fu-kien published intelligence that the planet
Saturn was very near a star called Ti-tso, which was the particular star
presiding over the empire. This was apparently interpreted lo mean
that a revolt in favour of the Sung dynasty was imminent, and at this
time an impostor did appear, who collected more than 100,000 adherents,
called himself Emperor of the Sung, and issued seditious placards.t
These things troubled the Emperor, who assembled at Chang tu the
young Sung Emperor, his family, and his minister Wcn-tien-
siang, who had been kept so long in restraint, and who was
especially suspected. He was again pressed to join the Mongol service,
but he remained inflexible. He had received favours much exceeding
his deserts from the Sung family, and he would not now abandon it in
its distress. He v/as therefore condemned to death, and received the
news joyfully, went laughing to the place of execution, faced the south,
stooped his head several times to the ground, and offered his neck to
the axe. He was only forty-seven years old, and was endowed with
many graces and virtues. The remaining members of the Sung family
were transported into Tartar>'.} His first wife having died, as I have
mentioned, Khubilai now raised another of his wives, who was of the
stock of the Kunkurat, to be his Empress ; she, loo, bore the name of
Honkilachi.

In the same year Khubilai sent a conmiissioner to the islands of the
Eastern Archipelago, to report upon their products and riches. Some
time after ships from ten of these states arrived at Tsiuen chau, the
celebrated port of Fu kien. These were the kingdoms of (i) Mapar, ue,,
Mobar or Malabar ; (2) Samundra, identified by Colonel Yule with the
kingdom of the Bilal Rajahs north of Malabar, and constantly coupled
with it by Muhanmiedan writers ;§ (3) Sumenna, />., Sumnath; (4)
Sengkili (the Shinkali of Abulfeda, the Singiugli of Jordanus, the Cynkalli
of MarignoUi), ue.y Cranganor, one of the old Malabar principahties;|| (5)
Malantan, i>., the Tana Malayu of De Barros, one of the Sumatran

* De Mailla, ix. 420-422. Gaubil, 203.
t De Mailla, ix. 416. Gaubil, 198. I De Mailla, ix. 4x7. Gaubil, xg8.

( Cathay and the Way Thither, 7;. 0 Cathay and the Way Thither, 75.

248 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

kingdoms;* (6) Sumutu, Sumatra; (7) Lailai (Lo, or Lo hoh), i,€..
Southern Siam ;t (8) Navang (?), Tinghor (?), and Kelanitai ?{

In 1287 a second expedition was fitted out against Tun king, of which
the command was again given to Togan, while a fleet was ordered to
co-operate with the army. The Tungkingese were defeated in seventeen
combats, and their capital, Chen chen, with a very rich booty, was
captured. The King escaped by sea.§ Not satisfied with his victory,
Togan rashly returned again during the hot season of 1288. The King
of Tung king threatened a descent on the coast,and he there upon ordered
the ports to be fortified ; but the hot weather was a more difficult enemy.
Once more it proved fatal to the Mongols, who were forced to retire
towards Kwang si. They lost many men and two of their chief com-
manders in encounters with the natives. Togan was deprived of the
government of Yunnan, and forbidden to appear at court. Meanwhile
the King of Tung king submitted, and sent Khubilai a present of an image
of solid gold. II

While Khubilai was stretching his hands out towards the south and
east a terrible rebellion on his northern frontier was sapping the influence
of the Mongol Khakans in Mongolia. It was headed by Kaidu, his
nephew. I have already traced it out in the former chapter, and
described its different phases, and how it was more or less controlled by
the skill of Khubilai's generals, who defeated both Kaidu and his con-
federates, and also put down the very serious rebellion of Nayan, in
Eastern Tartary. In the end of 1287 Atchu, who had won such renown
in the conquest of the Sung empire, died, and was honoured with
the posthumous title of Prince of Honan. In the spring of the following
year Khubilai was persuaded by his minister Sanga, much to the
chagrin of his Chinese subjects, to convert the various palaces of
the late dynasty into Buddhist temples ;1[ and later on in the year the
imprisoned Sung Emperor was sent to Putula, in Thibet, to learn the
Buddhist doctrines. The Chinese literates, who cordially despised the
Buddhists, were very angry with the young prince for not having put an
end to himself rather than survive such an indignity.** The cruel exac-
tions of the Mongol governors gave rise this year to several rebellions
in the southern provinces. A judge of Fu kien, named Wangiun, made
a report to the Emperor, in which he called attention to them. His
representations were well received.tt

Various public works were also carried on at this time with energy, the
grand canal called Hoeitong, running from Tsining chau, in Shantung,
to Ling tsing chau, in the same province, was opened, at least so say the
narratives of De Mailla and Gaubil, but the lattePs editor, in a note, says

* Yale's Marco Polo, ii. 224. t Yule's Marco Polo, ii. aai. I De MaiUm, ix. 429.

i De Mailla, ix. 430. Gaubil, 207. | De Mailla, ix. 435-437* GaubU, 208.

^ De Mailla, ix. 43S. ** De Mailla, ix. 439. Gaubil, 209. it Pe Mailla, ix* 437.

HHUBILAI KHAN, 247

<he canal wai^not opened till the days of the Ming dynasty. Khubilai
also built two magnificent colleges at Ta tu, /.^•., the Mongol part of
Peking. He encouraged literary work of various kinds, and especially
the literature of Buddhism, and we are told that in 1290, a copy of the
Thibetan sacred books was written in large golden letters.* This year a
census of those liable to pay tribute was made. It showed there were
13,196,206 families, comprising 58,834,711 persons, not counting fugitives
and rebels.f

Meanwhile, Sanga, the Imperial treasurer, followed in the
steps of his predecessor, and his exactions caused great suffering and
complaint in the empire. Like Ahmed, he also gained the confidence of
Khubilai so well that it was dangerous to speak against him. At length,
after a career of four years, his turn arrived for punishment. An
officer named Che li, who was much in the company of Khubilai, went
with him on one of his hunting excursions, and there ventured to disclose
to him the malpractices of Sanga. The Emperor was in a rage and
ordered him to be chastised. This was done so effectually that the blood
streamed from his nose and mouth. He was now asked to confess that
what he had said was a calumny. " I have no special grudge against him,**
said Ch6 IL " It was only in the interest of your Majesty and of the
empire that I spoke. If the fear of punishment had stopped my tongue
I should have been imworthy of being in your service," &c. The Emperor
ordered an inquiry. When this was instituted quite a crowd of
accusations poured upon the head of the devoted minister. Khubilai was
much enraged, in that the accusers had kept back information about
his ill doing, and left it to the Imperial censors to determine what
punishment they deserved ; most of them were dismissed. Che li was
tent with 300 soldiers to make an inventory of Sanga's goods.} The
Khakan had one day asked for some pearls ; he said he had none ; but
two boxes fidl were found in his house. These, he said, he had received
as presents from the different provincial governors. The Emperor was
naturally enraged at the effrontery of the minister, who retained the rich
presents for himself, and passed off mere bagatelles upon him. He was
condemned to death, and his goods were confiscated. With him perished a
large number of his creatures. He had had the impertinence to put up
a numument, with an eulogium on himself ; this was now broken down.§
His place was given to Wan tse, who alone, among the employes of that
chancellary, appeared, from the papers found in Ahmed's house, to have
obtained his employment without bribery.

The tombs of the Simg Emperors were situated near the town of
Chao hing, in Che kiang. A Lama of Thibet, who had an important
^>pointment in the southern provinces, and was exceedingly avaricious,

* Gaobil, «ia. t De Mailla, ix. 444.

: !>• If ailk, iz. 447. f De MaiUa, ix. 447* G«Hbfl,ax3.

I I

-50 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

proceeded this year to rifle these tombs, and to rob them of their golden
and jewelled ornaments. He look the bones out of the tombs, and
mixing them with those of oxen, &c., made pyramids of them. One
cannot easily find an explanation for this senseless indignity, which seems
to have been, and perhaps was, done expressly to irritate the Chinese,
who had an especial antipathy to the Lamas. The mandarins had him
arrested and imprisoned, but the Lama influence at the court was so
strong that he was afterwards released, and even retained his lugubriously
acquired booty.* The Chinese historians blame Khubilai very much for
his conduct on this occasion, and on others, in which he allowed himself
to be made the plaything of the Lama priests.t

In the end of the year 1291, a fleet was fitted out for the exploration and
conquest of the Luchu islands, east of Fu-kien, but the conmiander
having been killed on the way, the ships returned.} The first day of the
year is a grand festival in China ; the mandarins then severally do
homage according to the prescribed ceremonial ; this day is the first of
that month, when the sun enters the constellation of the Fishes. § An
eclipse of the sun at anytime is held to be a bad omen. If it occur on
the first day of the year, it is put down in the Chinese astrology as fore-
boding some impending disaster. The calculations showed that this
would happen on the first day of 1292, and the day was ordered to be
solenmly observed. The judicious Chinese did not fail to remind their
Emperor that he should see to his conduct, to discover if there was
anything in it, or in the affairs of State that needed reform. The eclipse
happened as foretold, and was observed with becoming seriousness. |
About this time a new code of laws was issued. Previously the country
had been governed by the laws passed during the Kin dynasty, but
these had been found to be too exacting.^" '

Khubilai was constantly sending envoys to the islands of the Eastern
Archipelago, whose ships brought to the port of Tsuen chau, the rare
products of the Spice islands. Marco Polo, in describing the island of
Java, says the great Khan never could get possession of it because of its
great distance. Soon after Polo wrote this he tried with but scant success.
His envoy, a Chinese mandarin called Mengki, returned home with his
face branded ; the punishment there awarded to highwaymen. Khubilai
was furious, ordered a great fleet to rendezvous in the ports of Fu-kien,
under the conmiand of a general and admiral who had been in the Indian
seas, and knew the language of Java. This armament consisted of 1,000
ships of all kinds, 30,000 soldiers, besides sailors, &c., and provisions for
a year. It set out in January, 1293, and coasted along the shores of
Cochin China. Having entered the great ocean, they came to the
mountains (? islands) Kanlan, Yukia, Limata, and Keoulang.

" Gaubil, 914. t De Mailla, ix. 448.

I De Mailla, ix. 449. $ Gaubil, 2x5. Note. B Gaubil, 316. % De Matlla, ix. 430.

KHUBILAI KHAX. 25I

There they landed to cut timber for making transports. The King of
Java (called Kuava by the Mongols) pretended to submit, and persuaded
the Chinese conmiander to attack Kolang, a neighbouring kingdom with
which he was at war. The King of Kolang was defeated in a battle which
lasted from sunrise to mid-day, and in which his forces numbered 100,000.
He submitted, but was put to death with his family.*

The Javanese having thus revenged themselves on the people of
Kolang wished to be rid of the Mongols, and notwithstanding that he had
sent in his submission, acknowledging Khubilai as his suzereign, and sur-
rendered his royal seal, the King marched against the Mongol troops, and
planted a force in an ambuscade, causing them much loss in their retreat
to the coast. The expedition returned to China after losing 3,000 men.
It was sixty-eight days on the way. It took back with it an immense booty
in gold and precious stones, but Khubilai was much dissatisfied with its
partial success, and also with the fact that instead of punishing ; his officers
should have made terms with his enemies. The chief officer instead of
being rewarded was severely bastinadoed, and a large quantity of his
possessions were confiscated.t Meanwhile the struggle on the northern
frontier with Kaidu and his supporters continued more or less vigorously.
In 1293, two hundred Juchis or Niuchis brought Khubilai a tribute of
fish. Fishing was their sole occupation. Khubilai wished them to adopt
a more settled life, and furnished them with cattle and agricultural
implements, and sent officers into their country to furnish the same
assistance to their countrymen. J

Meanwhile Bayan, who commanded at Karakorum, and who for his
wonderful successes and experiences was unrivalled among the servants
of Khubilai, became the object of envy to the courtiers of the Emperor,
who, succumbing to their advice, recalled him, and replaced him by his
own grandson and heir Timur. He was appointed commander of the
Imperial guards, and of the troops in thd neighbourhood of the capital.

In the latter part of 1293 there appeared a comet, a great event in
Chinese astrology ; and the Emperor betook himself to the learned
mandarins to consult them as to his conduct. They as usual advised
him to be warned by the apparition to reform the administration of the
empire. At this time, curiously, Khubilai fell ill and died. This was
early in 1294, in the eightieth year of his age and the thirty-fifth of his
reign. In the hall of the ancestors he is styled Chi tsu. The Chinese accuse
him of an excessive devotion to the Lamas, a love of women and of
money, and of being very superstitious. They accuse him of having
wasted his resources in ill-devised and ill-executed expeditions to
Japan, Cochin China, &c., and of having employed too many strangers.
This last has always been a source of great jealousy to the Chinese.

• Ganbil, 2x7-2x9. De MailU, ix. 451, 452. t Gaubil, axg. De MaiUa, iz. 433.

I De Mailla, ix. 45s.

252 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

The Mongols and western writers have formed a diflbrent estimate of
him. His reign is the most glorious epoch in Mongol history, and he
was certainly, as Gaubil says, learned and fond of learned men,
courageous, enterprising, and magnificent.*

Khubilai was the sovereign of the largest empire that was ever controlled
by one man. China, Corea, Thibet, Tung king. Cochin China, a great
portion of India beyond the Ganges, the Turkish and Siberian realms
from the eastern sea to the Dnieper obeyed his commands ; and although
the chiefs of the Hordes of Jagatai and Ogatai refused to acknowledge
him, the Ilkhans of Persia (whose empire bordered on the Mediter-
ranean and the Greek empire) were his feudatories ; in fact, as D*Ohsson
says, nearly all Asia was subject to him. This was in different ways. Thus
while the g^eat Khanates of the Ilkhans and of the Golden Horde owed
him allegiance, probably sent him large quantities of riches as tribute,
while their chiefs received investiture at his hands, their internal govern-
ment was controlled entirely by their special rulers. Their history was
probably similar to that of Canada. At first an integral part of the
empire, then having a substantive government of their own, and owning
only a mediate allegiance to the central Imperial authority. This was no
doubt immense so long as the Mongol Imperial family was united ; but with
the rebellions of Arikbuka and Kaidu, and with the removal of the
capital from Karakorum to China it became weaker, until a few reigns later
it snapped altogether. The supreme Khan had immediate authority
only in Mongolia and China, and it will be interesting to inquire how he
administered this vast area.

To assist him, Khubilai had a council or cabinet of twelve officers,
whom Marco Polo calls the twelve barons. Pauthier has found the
same number mentioned in the Chinese annals. Of the first rank were
two, styled Chin sang ; one, minister of the right ; the other, of the left.
They had the appointment of the various functionaries of State, and also
the control of their discipline.t Pauthier adds in a note that the number
of these first ministers varied. At the accession of Khubilai in 1260
there was only one, who was named Mahmud, and who was a Muham-
medan. From 1 261 to 1265 there were two, and in 1265 and 1266 there
were four, among them being Khandu and Bayan. This last statement
agrees with the enumeration of Raschid, who says there were four Ching
sang. Next to these were four Ping chang ching se, ministers of special
departments ; they had special control of military matters. They answer
to the four Fan chan of Raschid, who says they acted as inspectors on
behalf of the council. Thirdly, were four assessors : two of the right,
Yau-ching ; and two of the left, Tso ching ; which correspcnded to the
Yer-jing, and Ur or U jing of Raschid ; they answered to our under-
secretaries of State. And lastly, two reporters on public affairs, Thsan
ching ; the San jing of Raschid.

* Gftubil, 22a. t The Yuen se, Pauthier's Marco Polo, 329. Note.

KHUBILAI KHAX. 253

I shall now extract Ra3chid's account of how the work of the council
was done.

"As the Kaan generally resides at the capital/' he says, "he has erected
a place for the sittings of the Great Council, called Sing. According to
established custom a lieutenant is appointed to the inspection and
charge of the doors, and examines all the drafts of memorials that are
presented.

" The name of the first tribunal is In. All the proceedings are copied
and sent with the memorials to the tribunal called Liisah, which is of
higher rank than the other. Thence all is carried to the tribunal called
Ehalydn, and thence to the fourth, called Kuijiin. This is the board
which has charge of all that relates to the posts and despatches. The
three first mentioned tribunals are under the orders of the last ; and from
it business is transferred to the fifth, which bears the name of Rusn&yi,
and which has everything that concerns the army under its charge.
Lastly, the business arrives at the sixth board, which is called Siiishtah.*
All ambassadors and foreign merchants when arriving and departing
have to present themselves at this office, which is the one which issues
orders in council and passports. In our days this office is entirely under
the management of the Amir D&shiman.

" When matters have passed these six boards, they are remitted to the
Council of State, -or Sing, where they are discussed, and the decision is
issued after being verified by the Khat Angusht or * finger-signature ' of
all who have a right to a voice in the council. This * finger-signature '
indicates that the act, to which it is attached in attestation, has been
discussed and definitively approved by those whose mark has been put
upon it.

** It is usual in Cathay, when any contract is entered into, for the outline
of the fingers of the parties to be traced upon the document. For
experience shows that no two individuals have fingers precisely alike.
The hand of the contracting party is set upon the back of the paper
containing the deed, and lines are then traced round his fingers up to the
knuckles, in order that if ever one of them should deny his obligation
this tracing may be compared with his fingers and he may thus be
convicted.

"After the matter has thus passed through all the boards, and has been
decided on by the supreme authority, it is sent back to the tribunal before
which it first came.

" The dignitaries mentioned above arc expected to attend daily at the
Sing, and to make themselves acquainted with all that passes there. And

* ** These are the six boards of administration which still exist in China, under the names of
KiAf-Pu, Hing-Pn, &c The titles given by Raschid do not seem to attempt any imiution of
tfie Chinese names, and are probably those in use among the Muhammedans. The third board
from the top, called Pingpu by the Chinese, has still authority over military affain." Yole'a
Cathay and the Way Thither, 266. Note.

254 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

as the business to be transacted is very extensive, the Chingsang take
their part in the writing that has to be done as well as the other members
of the council whose positions we have detailed. Each takes his place,
according to his degree, with a kind of table and writing materials before
him. Every great officer has his seal and distinctive bearings. It is the
duty of certain of the clerks to write down the names of all who attend
daily, in order that a deduction may be made from the allowances of
those who are absent. If any one is habitually absent from the cquncil
without valid excuse, he is dismissed.

" It is the order of the Kian that the four Chingsang make all reports
to him.

" The Sing of Khanbaligh is the most eminent, and the building is very
large. All the acts and registers and records of proceedings of several
thousands of years are there preserved. The officials employed in it
amount to some two thousand."*

Such is Raschid's account of the council and its work. In the Yuen Se,
or Imperial annals, we have further details about the administration of
the empire. We are told that at his accession Khubilai ordered Hiu
heng and Liau kien chung to search out precedents, and to arrange
the administrative machinery of the empire. This was done. There
were three classes of officials of the first rank. Those who had to
do with the general administration, Chung chu sing ; those who looked
after military matters, Chu mi yuen ; and the board of Imperial censors,
who had to do with promotions, &c., Yu se thai.

Below these in rank were certain officers belonging to the interior
management of the Court (nei). These included the officials about the
Court (se) : the superintendents of the Palace (kian) ; those charged with
the Imperial guard (wei) ; those attached to the Treasury (fu).

Secondly, those who had to do with external matters, as (the hing
sing) directors of the provinces : hing thai, financial directors; siuen wei
sei, those charged with the public peace (/>., the police) ; and Lien fang s^,
the bureau of intelligence.

In imitation of the ancient dynasties there were also created three
great departments, styled san kung (the three dukes). The grand
preceptor of the empire, tai s^ ; the grand reporter, tai chuan ; and the
grand conservator, tai pao. There was also a grand director of the
armies, ta se thu ; his lieutenant, se thu ; and the "grand chief of police, tai
wei (i.e., the great tranquilliser). Above all these was the president of the
secretariat of State, chung chu ling. He had a silver seal, and derived
his orders immediately from the Emperor.

We will now turn to the administration of justice. Pauthier says the
number of judges of the Supreme Court varied a good deal. In 1260
there were sixteen; below whom were thirty-one magistrates. In 1269,

* Cfttbfty and the Way Thither, 265-267.

KKUDILAI KHAN. 255

Seventeen and thirty-four magistrates. In 1270, eighteen and thirty-five
magistrates. In 1271 they began to use seals. In 1290 they were
divided into two provinces. In 1291 there were thirty-six secretaries
attached to the grand court. Two more were added in 1294. These had
a president and a first and second clerk over them. Attached to the
grand court were also two Mongol secretaries ; twelve chief historia-
graphers, or keepers of the rolls, also Mongols ; one keeper of the rolls,
who was a Uighur, and a Mussulman, and two interpreters of the Uighur
language ; two officers charged with the seals, eight reporters, and a chief
of police.*

Such was the central administration. We will now pass on to the
government of the provinces. The part of the empire immediately under
the control of Khubilai was divided into twelve great prefectures or
governments, each controlled by a college or tribunal, styled Sing in
Chinese.

1. The central province, upon which the rest were more or less
dependent, comprised the present provinces of Shan tung, Shan si,
Pehcheli, Honan north of the Yellow River, and part of Mongolia. It
was also known as the entrails of the empire. Its chief city was
Khanbaligh or Peking. It included 29 lu (circuits) and 8 chau (arron-
dissements). On it were also dependent 3 fu (departments), 91 chau, and
346 hien (cantons).

2. The province of the Northern Mountains (/.^., of Mongolia proper).
It included the lu of Honing, whose chief town was Karakorimi. It was
ruled by a military governor.

3. The province of Liau yang (including Liau tung, and probably
Manchuria). It consisted of 7 lu and i fu, and had dependent upon it 12
chau and 10 hien. Its capital was Liau yang.

4. The province of Honan and the country north of the Kiang,
including 12 lu, 7 fii, and i chau; on it depended 34 chau and 182 hien.
Its capital was called Tung king during the Sung ; Nan king under the
Kin, and until 1288, when it was styled Pian lang. It was afterwards
known as Kai fung fu.

5. The province of Shensi and other districts. In 1262 Shensi and
Su chuan were formed into one administrative province, with its capital
at King chau (Si ngan fu), whose name in 1279 was changed to Ngan si.
In 1286 Su chuan was constituted a separate province. That of Shensi
then comprised the modern province, with the greater part of Kan su
to the right of the Yellow River, and part of the Ortus country. Its
capital was in 1312 named Fong yuen (Si ngan fu). It included 4 lu, 5
fu, and 27 chau, and had K chau and 88 hien dependent upon it.

6. The province of Su chuan, included parts of Hu kwang
and Kwei chau, and comprised 9 lu and 3 fu. On it were dependent

* P«utbier*8 Marco Polo, 328 and 332. Notes.

256 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

2 fu, 36 chau, I kiun (military camp), and 81 hien. It also contained
some wild tribes named Man i, «V., barbarous strangers, i,e,, the Miaotze,
who still remain there. Its capital was Ching tu.

7. The province of Kan su. It was constituted in 1281, and com-
prised all the country west of the Yellow River, known as Ho-si. It
included 7 lu and 2 chau. Five others were dependent on it. Its chief
town was Kan chau.

8. The province of Yun nan. It included the modem province with part
of Kwei cheu and parts of Thibet and Burma, and included 37 lu and 2 hi.
There were dependent on it 54 chau and 47 hien, besides several kiun
or military encampments. Its capital was Chung-khing (Yunnan fii).

9. The province of Kiang che and other places, embracing Che kiang,
Kiang nan, south of the Kiang, and the eastern part of Kiang si. It com-
prised 30 lu, I fu, and 2 chau, and on it were dependent 26 chau and 133
hien. Its capital was Hang chau, which when the Sung made it their
capital in 1129, was named King se (the Quin say of Marco Polo).

10. The province of Kiang si and other places. It comprised 18 lu and
9 chau, and on it were dependent 13 chau and 78 hien. Its capital was
Lung hing, now Nan chang fu.

11. The province of Hu kwang and other places, comprising 30 lu, 3 fu,
and 13 chau, and having dependent on it 15 ngan fu se (/.^., boards of
pacification), 3 kikn, 3 fu, 17 chau, and 150 hien. Its capital was
Wu-chang.

12. The province of Ching tung and other places, which comprised the
kingdom of Corea. It included 2 ling fu (/>., superior departments) and
I se. Its capital, the residence of a viceroy, was Fan Yang.

This enumeration is taken from the Yung se or Mongols aimals,
and I have abstracted it from Pauthier's Notes ;* and also from
Yule's Cathay and the Way Thither.t The chief towns of these
provinces were seats of the tribunals styled Sing, and Raschid tells us
that that of Khanbaligh alone had Ching sang among its members. The
others had dignitaries bearing the title of Shijangi to preside over them,
aided by four Fanchan and other members of council who had titles
according to their dignities.

Besides the provincial councils there were local governors in the
various cities, towns, villages, &c. In regard to these Raschid says :
" In this empire of Cathay there are many considerable cities, each has
its appropriate title marking a particular rank in the scale. The relative
precedence of governors is indicated by that of the cities wMdi th^
administer, so that there is no need to specify their dignities in the
diploma of appointment, or to enter into curious questions of precedenccL
You know at once (by the rank of the cities to which they are attached)
which ought to make way for another or to bow the knee before hinL

* Pauthier't Marco Polo, 333-339* Notes. t Op. dt, 370. Note.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 257

These ranks or titles are as follow :— i, King (i,e., Imperial residence, as
in Peking, Nanking, &c.) ; 2, Du or Tu (Court or Imperial residence, as in
Tatu, Shangtu, &c.) ; 3, Fu (a city of the first class, or rather the depart-
ment of which it is the head, as in Wu chang fu, &c.) 4, Chau (a city of the
second class, or district of which it is the head) ; 5, . . . (this is a blank
in Khaproth's original); 6, Kiun, a chief military garrison ; 7, Hien, a
city of the third order, or sub-district of which it is the head. Chin, a
small town ; Tsun, a district.* Colonel Yule adds that the custom of
naming a dignitary by the title belonging to the class of district under
him still prevails in China.

The chiefs of the different prefectures, &c., were generally Mongols, or
strangers from the west ; Muhammedans, Christians, and Buddhists.
Many Muhammedans from Persia, Transoxiana, and Turkestan settled
in China under the administraticns'of Abd ur Rahman, Seyed Edjell, and
Ahmed, and the Chinese historians who praise his reign make it a cause
of complaint against him that he did not employ Chinese officials instead
of these double-dealing and crafty Turks and Persians to superintend his
finances. Before the invasion of the Mongols, the literates, who had
passed very searching examinations, were alone employed in the public
offices. This class had greatly decayed. Khubilai restored the old
Imperial college at Yen king (Pekin), which had fallen into decay ; the
ablest professors in China were placed there, and the children of the best
families studied at the same place. He also founded a second college
under the direction of the Mussulmans at Ta tu.t

The communications between different parts of the empire were kept
up by an elaborate post service. This post service was admirably
managed. It is well described by Marco Polo. J He tell us Khanbahk,
or Peking, was the focus where there met many roads ; along each of
these roads at intervals of from twenty-five to thirty miles were situated
post houses or hostelries, splendidly furnished, called by the Mongols
Yambs (a Mongol word which Colonel Yule says the Tartars carried all
over Asia). To some of these hostelries were attached 400 horses, 200
in use and 200 at grass. At others there were fewer. Where the mes-
sengers had to pass through roadless tracts, where neither house nor
hostel existed, still there the station houses had been established,
except that the intervals were greater, ind the day's journey was fixed
at thirty-five to forty-five, instead of twenty-five to thirty miles. 300,000
horses were employed in this service, and there were 10,000 stations.
There were two kinds of State messengers, the foot and horse couriers; both
wore broad belts with bells attached, and were stationed at intervals of three
miles. The bells sounded the runner's arrival, and prepared a fresh man to
take his place, and Polo says, that by this means news travelled a ten days'

* BMchid, in YtUe'i Cathay and the Way Thither, a6a. t D'Ohuon, ii. 480.

X Colonel Yule's ed., i. 388.

IK

258 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

journey in a day and a night, and the Khakan could eat fruit that had
only been gathered twenty-four hours before at a distance of ten days'
journey. The horse couriers, by the same system of relief, did from
400 to 500 miles in a day and night. He thus describes the method
of procedure. He says, " the postmen take a horse from those at the
station, which are standing ready saddled, all fresh and in wind, and
mount and go at full speed, as hard as they can ride, and when those
at the next post hear the bells, they get ready another horse and a man,
equipt in the same way, and he takes over the letter or whatever it be,
and is off full speed to the third station, where again a fresh horse is
found all ready, and so the despatch speeds along from post to post,
always at full gallop, with regular changes of horses, and the speed at
which they go is marvellous. By night, however, they cannot go so fast
as by day, because they have to be accompanied by footmen with
torches, who could not keep up with them at full speed. These men
are highly prized, and in order to keep up they have to bind their
stomachs, chests, and heads with strong bands, and each of them
carries with them a gerfalcon tablet, in sign that he is bound on an
urgent express, so that if his horse breaks down on the road, or he has any
other mishap, he can appropriate that of any traveller he meets, and
make him dismount."

This elaborate system of posting which the Mongols so much
patronised is referred to by nearly every traveller of the period. Similar
expedients were used elsewhere, thus Colonel Yule says the Burmese
kings used to have the odoriferous Durian transmitted from Tenasserim
to Ava by horse posts, but he adds, " the most notable example of the
rapid transmission of such dainties, and the nearest approach I know of
to their despatch by telegraph, was that practised for the benefit of the
Fatimite Khalif Aziz (latter part of the tenth century), who had a great
desire for a dish of cherries from Balbeck. The Wazir Yakub ben Kills
caused 600 pigeons to be despatched from Balbeck to Cairo, each of which
had attached to either leg a small silk bag containing a cherry.^'t

The capital of the Khakan, after the accession of Khubilai, was a new
city he built close to the ancient metropolis of the Liao and Kin dynas-
ties, which was formerly known as Yen king. Khubilai's city was called
Tatu (/>., great court), corrupted by the Mongols into Taidu, or Daitu.
It was separated from the ancient city, from which it was about half a mile
distant, by a small river, and was also known as Cambaluk, i>.. Khan
baligh, the city of the Elhan.{ It is now known as Peking. It had in
Polo's time, a circuit of twenty-four miles, and was in the form of a
square. Its ramparts of earth fifty feet in width and fifty feet high were
whitewashed and loopholed all round. A recent French account, cited

* Yule't Marco Polo, i. 390. t Yule's Marco Polo, i. 392.

I Pauthier*! Marco Polo, 265.

KHUBILAI KHAN. 259

by Yule, mentions that the same walls are still forty-five and a half feet
high, and forty-seven and a quarter feet thick, the top forming a paved
promenade, unique of its kind, and recalling the legendary walls of
Thehes and Babylon.